The Last Enemy
by LilyHawthorn
Summary: A chronicle of the years of Sophie Tonks, younger daughter to Ted and Andromeda Tonks, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
1. Sophie Tonks

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. No profit is being made and no copyright infringement is intended._

It was a bright Tuesday morning in July. The sunshine was cascading through the window of a house where a girl was sitting. She was very tall, slender and pretty with golden brown hair that fell to her waist. The girl sat at the breakfast table reading the newspaper by the early morning light. It was a very strange newspaper. There was a cloaked figure in a bowler hat on the front cover who was moving as though part of a film instead of a photograph; inside there was an article about a goblin controversy, an advertisement for the latest Nimbus model broomstick and a schedule detailing the programs to be broadcast on the Wizarding Wireless Network. All of this seemed perfectly ordinary and only mildly interesting to the girl reading the paper as she ate her porridge.

A noise outside the kitchen window made her look up. An owl was approaching. She got up, opened the window and the owl flew inside and landed on the table, several letters tied to its leg. Closing the window, the girl untied the letters. One was from a friend of her parents', another addressed to her sister, and the third-

_Yes, oh, yes_! _Finally_. She grasped the third letter. It was addressed:

_Miss S. Tonks_

_The Highest Bedroom_

_7 Kenilbury Lane_

_Soliworth_

_West Midlands_

She turned it over excitedly in her hands. She had known that it would arrive soon, but all the same it was immensely gratifying to finally receive what she had been waiting for virtually her entire life.

Breaking the purple wax seal that bore the Hogwarts coat of arms, Sophie pulled out a piece of parchment that read:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Miss Tonks,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

She sat down again, re-reading the letter over and over again. This was it: she really was going to Hogwarts. Seven years of watching and waiting as her older sister Dora boarded the Hogwarts Express were over. It was _her_ turn now.

Savouring this pleasant thought, she hardly noticed when her mother entered the kitchen and started making tea.

"Interesting letter, Sophronia?" Mrs. Tonks asked her daughter.

The girl's head snapped up. "Mum! I didn't hear you come in. Yes, it's my Hogwarts letter!"

"Oh, yes," said Mrs. Tonks as she used her wand to magick the tea from the kettle into cups. "I suppose we shall have to make a trip to Diagon Alley soon, then."

"How come?" asked Dora, yawning as she strolled into the room. She was seventeen with green, shoulder-length hair and a bleary, early morning look in her dark eyes.

"Sophronia got her letter from Hogwarts today so we need to buy her things," said Mrs. Tonks, handing her elder daughter a cup of tea.

"Thanks, Mum. Congratulations, Sophie," she said before tripping over a chair and spilling some of the tea. "Oh, sorry-"

"Never mind, Nymphadora, just sit down," said Mrs. Tonks, already clearing the spilled tea with her wand.

"This came for you, Dora," said Sophie, pushing Dora's letter across the table to her.

"Thanks, Sophie," Dora half-glanced at the letter while taking a sip of tea before spluttering and almost choking.

"What is it?" asked Mrs. Tonks as Dora seized her letter.

"It's - it's my NEWT results," said Dora.

"Well, open it up, then," said Sophie. She knew the cause of her sister's trepidation: it was Dora's ambition to become an Auror -a Dark wizard catcher- and she had to have gotten top grades in her NEWTs in order to qualify for Ministry training.

Dora turned the letter over and, breaking the seal, pulled out her results. As Sophie watched her sister's eyes go over the lines on the paper, Dora's mouth curved itself into a smile.

"I did it," she said, grinning at her mother and sister. "I did it! Look-" Dora held out her results for Mrs. Tonks and Sophie to see:

_NASTILY EXHAUSTING WIZARDING TESTS_

_Pass Grades: Outstanding (O) Fail Grades: Poor (P)_

_ Exceeds Expectations (E) Dreadful (D)_

_ Acceptable (A) Troll (T)_

_NYMPHADORA PAULINE TONKS HAS ACHIEVED:_

_Charms: E_

_Defence Against the Dark Arts: O_

_Herbology: E_

_Potions: E_

_Transfiguration: O_

"Congratulations, Nymphadora," said Mrs. Tonks. "I'm glad; I know you studied so much."

"Yeah," said Dora. "Especially in Herbology. I've never had to think so hard about plants in my life."

"Oh, is that why you look like you've got grass growing out of your head?" asked Sophie.

"Shut up," said Dora, but she was still grinning. "Where's Dad?"

"He left already; there were a lot of injuries this morning that they needed him for." Mr. Tonks worked at St. Mungo's Hospital as a Healer.

"I'm going to send an owl to the Ministry today," said Dora, standing up, her tiredness seeming to have evapourated. "I'll send them my results and an application for Auror training."

"All right, and I will take Sophie to Diagon Alley," said Mrs. Tonks. Dora went upstairs, almost tripping a couple of times.

Sophie went upstairs to her bedroom while her mother got ready to go. Sophie's bedroom was at the very top level of the house and was composed of her bed, desk, wardrobe and bookcase. Posters of the band The Weird Sisters blinked and moved on the walls, as did the blue-robed teammates of the Quidditch team the Tutshill Tornadoes. Sophie had already dressed before breakfast and now took out a cloak and put it on and gave a crust of toast to her tawny owl, Alazne, who hooted gratefully and affectionately nibbled Sophie's fingers. Alazne had been a birthday present from Sophie's parents last January when she had turned eleven. Glancing out her wide window Sophie looked out towards where a girl she knew called Sally-Anne Perks lived; Sally-Anne was the same age as she and would no doubt also be getting her own letter today. She and Sally-Anne had known each other all the time growing up and Sally-Anne was the only wizarding child of her age that Sophie knew. Sally-Anne's parents were Sophie's godparents, as her own were Sally-Anne's and both had the other's mother's name as her middle name. She and Sally-Anne were not especially close, but it still had been nice to have someone to look forward to going to Hogwarts with.

A short while later, Sophie, standing in front of the kitchen fireplace, took some Floo Powder in hand and threw it on the fire. The flames turned green and grew suddenly as Sophie stepped into the fireplace, said "Diagon Alley!" and the kitchen faded from her sight. Taking care to keep her elbows tucked in, Sophie stepped out on arriving and stood to the side as Mrs. Tonks arrived a moment later.

"Let me see your list," said Mrs. Tonks. Sophie handed the list to her. "Uniform, books, wand, cauldron...and I was just noticing we need to stock up on Floo Powder..."

"Mum," said Sophie, impatiently.

"Don't worry, Sophronia, we'll get all of your things. Why don't you get your uniform at Madam Malkin's while I buy your potion ingredients and the Floo Powder?"

So Sophie went in to _Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions_ where she was fitted for her Hogwarts robes (plain black robes, a winter cloak and a pointed hat). Mrs. Tonks returned just as Sophie was finishing up and paid for the uniform. They then proceeded down the street and bought quills, ink and parchment, brass scales, a telescope and a pewter cauldron. Sophie found her set books at Flourish and Blotts without any great difficulty and rifled through the latest copy of _Witch Weekly_ while her mother paid. She was glad to be getting all of her supplies for Hogwarts, but one item in particular she was terribly impatient to get: her own wand.

Having one's own wand meant so much more than just going to Hogwarts: it meant that she was finally going to start growing up and joining the adult magical world that could control and use magic purposefully. And it would be an object entirely unique to her. Sophie had examined her mother's, father's and sister's respective wands before and could see how each one was different and each corresponded with its owner. She had waited her whole life to have her own wand and was anxious now not to dawdle in reaching that important moment.

Finally they left Flourish and Blotts and went to _Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 BC_. They opened the door and went inside.

An old man who Sophie assumed was Mr. Ollivander stood behind the counter. He looked up when Sophie and her mother entered. "Good morning," he said. Taking in Mrs. Tonks, he said, "Andromeda, a pleasure to see you again...Ebony and phoenix feather, eleven and three-quarter inches, isn't it?"

"Yes it is," said Mrs. Tonks. "My daughter, Sophronia, needs a wand today."

"Ah, yes," said Mr. Ollivander, his misty gaze turning towards Sophie. "Going to Hogwarts this September?"

"Yes, sir," said Sophie. She found Mr. Ollivander's gaze rather intimidating, but met it just the same.

"Well," said Mr. Ollivander, coming out from behind the counter. "Which is your wand arm?"

"Left," said Sophie. Mr. Ollivander took a measuring tape and, flicking his wand at it, the tape started measuring her arm of its own accord while the wandmaker turned to the boxes that lined the walls and started perusing through them. He pulled out a wand, pointed his own at the measuring tape, which ceased measuring, and handed a wand to Sophie.

"Try this: hawthorn and phoenix feather, ten and a quarter inches, very bendy-"

Sophie held the wand for a moment, but Mr. Ollivander whipped it quickly out of her hand, saying, "No, no, let me see...Maple and unicorn hair, nine and three quarter inches, quite springy-"

But this too, apparently, was wrong. The next wand Mr. Ollivander gave to her, he said, "This one's a bit different -rowan and dragon heartstring, ten and three quarter inches, unyielding."

Sophie took the rowan wand and immediately felt a tangible difference: she moved the wand through the air and gold sparks flew out of the end of it. The wand felt very friendly in her grip; it was much more comfortable than the others had been and seemed almost to bond with her. She liked it very much.

"Oh, very good, very good," said Mr. Ollivander. "Yes, that one seems to suit you quite well, quite well indeed."

"Mr. Ollivander," ventured Sophie. "Why did you say this wand's different?"

"It is merely unusual given the pairing of dragon heartstring and rowan wood," explained Mr. Ollivander. Dragon heartstring often produces a wand with a great amount of power and rowan is one of the most powerful wand woods: that is therefore a wand of immense potency. Rowan has a reputation for virtue as well, and only, in my experience, chooses a witch or wizard with a level head and a pure heart. That wand is unyielding and will never show loyalty to another wizard as it will to its original owner. None should stand in your way with that wand, Miss Tonks."

They paid for Sophie's wand and left the shop. Sophie felt a little odd as they returned home and had lunch. Dora was still in a good mood because of her NEWT results and had changed her hair to her favourite short bubblegum pink.

After lunch Sophie went up to her room. She stroked Alazne on the head, the owl hooting softly as she did so. Sophie then turned and absently flipped through her new schoolbooks on her bed. She couldn't help thinking about what Mr. Ollivander had said. She stood up and picked her new wand up off her bookcase where she had so meticulously placed it earlier. She fingered it reverently. It was such a special object, completely her own...and according to Mr. Ollivander it would be loyal to her, perhaps even more so than another wand would to its owner because of its unyielding quality. Sophie applied firm pressure to either end of it. Mr. Ollivander was right: it was unyielding. She sat back down. What troubled her were the wandmaker's words that her rowan wand indicated her pure heart: Sophie didn't think hers was. She was always so jealous of Dora. Dora -the ever talented, ever liked, ever loved. Nobody looked at plain brown-haired, brown-eyed Sophie next to her Metamorphmagus Auror-aspiring sister. Sophie cringed inwardly for thinking that way. She knew her parents really did love her just as much as Dora, but it was so hard to feel sometimes. So hard to feel when she saw that pain in her mother's eyes whenever mention of her estranged family came up...the psychopathic sister that Sophie so resembled...

Sophie shook her head as if trying to clear it. _No_, she told herself firmly. _No, I look like Mum, that's all, just like Mum. And anyway,_ she thought, _I'm not anybody else, I have my own unique wand and I'll become my own self at Hogwarts._ This thought firmly planted in her mind, she raised her wand and swished it down through the air in front of her in a flurry of gold sparks.


	2. Sophie's Sorting

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**Sophie's Sorting**

The scarlet steam train blew its whistle as Sophie's parents each hugged her for a last time and Sophie turned and managed to heave her heavy trunk up the train steps and on board. She checked her watch: it was ten to eleven. All around her students were milling about, greeting old friends and dragging their luggage into compartments. Sophie started off somewhat cautiously so as not to bump into anyone, glancing into compartments as she went to see if there was a place she could sit; she hadn't seen Sally-Anne at all and didn't know where she would be. However, without having to look too far she came to one compartment that was completely empty except for a girl with bushy brown hair who looked about her own age. Sophie pushed the compartment door open.

"Anyone else sitting here?" she asked the girl.

"Oh, no, please," said the girl, indicating that Sophie could sit down. The girl had already changed into her Hogwarts robes and had rather large front teeth, Sophie noticed. "Are you just starting as well?" asked the girl. "It's my first year and nobody in my family's magic except me, and I didn't find out I was a witch until just over a month ago when I got my letter."

"Yeah, it's my first year," said Sophie, who, having heaved her trunk into the luggage rack above the seats sat down opposite to the girl. "But both my parents are magic and my sister's already gone to Hogwarts. She finished last June."

"Oh, really?" said the girl, interestedly. "That must be so fascinating, coming from a wizarding family. I am so interested in the wizarding world; I've been reading all about it for weeks and I've memorized our set of books off by heart. My name's Hermione Granger, by the way."

Sophie smiled, amused. "Sophie Tonks, and I bet you'll be the best in the class."

Hermione blushed and seemed rather pleased with this assessment. "So, what does your sister do now that she's left Hogwarts?"

"She's training to be an Auror," said Sophie as the train whistle blew for a final time and the train began to move. "A Dark wizard catcher," she added, seeing Hermione's look of confusion. "She's got to study and train for three more years before she can officially join."

At that moment their compartment door opened and a short, blond boy appeared there, clutching a toad.

"Can I sit in here?" He asked. The boy was plump with a round face that was shining with sweat from the effort of dragging his trunk along.

"Sure," said Sophie, patting the seat next to hers.

"Thanks," said the boy, gratefully. Sophie helped him to put his luggage in the rack as he was very unwilling to let go of his toad, which he called Trevor, for fear that it might escape, he explained. They sat down and introduced themselves.

"I'm Neville Longbottom," the boy said.

Sophie glanced quickly at him. Surely not? Could it really be him, the boy whose parents had been tortured into insanity by her own aunt and uncle? Sophie winced inwardly at the thought. Of course, they were completely estranged from her mother's family, but even the most unpleasant of family connections could not be erased...It was so horrible, Sophie thought, as she gazed at Neville. The poor boy...

Sophie was brought back to earth by Hermione and Neville's discussion of school houses.

"I've read there are four of them," Hermione was saying. "There's Gryffindor, and that's the house that values-'

"Courage," said Sophie, nodding. "Dumbledore was a Gryffindor."

"Was he really?" asked Hermione, interestedly. "And there's Ravenclaw-"

"For intelligence," said Sophie.

"Those sound the best to me," said Hermione. "Gryffindor sounds especially good; Dumbledore is one of the greatest wizards of the age, isn't he? I think Ravenclaw would be fine, though."

Neville shook his head, looking anxious. "I wouldn't want to be in either."

"What house do you want to be in, Neville?" asked Sophie.

He shrugged. "I know my Gran'd probably want me in a very distinguished house, but I think I'd be better off in Hufflepuff."

Hermione raised a skeptical eyebrow, but before she could say anything, Sophie nodded and said, "Loyalty, patience, diligence and trustworthiness. It's a fine house. My dad and my sister were both Hufflepuffs." Neville gave her a small smile, which she returned.

"What about your mum?" asked Hermione.

"Slytherin. For the ambitious, the cunning and those destined for greatness," recited Sophie.

"Are you hoping to be in Slytherin or Hufflepuff, then?" Hermione asked.

Sophie shrugged. "Either. Or Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw. I'd be happy with any house, really."

"Would you?" asked Hermione. "You've got it easy, then; you don't have to worry."

"Neither of you should worry either," said Sophie. "All of the houses have their good points. It's not a life sentence, you'll be fine, wherever you end up."

Sophie's words had something of a calming, soothing effect to them and there was a pause before their compartment door opened again, this time to reveal a plump witch who said "Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Sophie, Hermione and Neville all bought themselves some snacks from the witch. After they had paid her their gold she closed the compartment door and moved on. As Neville started to sit down, however, he gave a startled cry.

"Oh no! Trevor! He's not here!"

"He must have jumped out when the door opened," said Hermione, standing up.

"I've lost him again! I can't believe it, I had just found him!" said Neville, looking tearful.

"Don't worry, we'll find him," said Sophie, also standing.

The three of them stepped out of their compartment and began walking down the train, opening people's compartments as they went, asking if they had seen a toad. Because their compartment was closer to the front of the train, Hermione turned towards the engine to ask the people in those compartments if they had seen a toad and Sophie and Neville walked towards the back.

Sophie inquired after a toad in several compartments, always receiving negative answers. She pushed open another compartment door, this time revealing three boys who looked about the same age as her. Two of the boys looked rather mean and thuggish and the other was a pale blond boy with a pointed face. "Have any of you seen a toad?" she asked them. "There's a boy who's lost one."

"What's he got you looking for?" drawled the pale blond boy. "If I had a toad I'd lose it as soon as possible, wouldn't you?" The two thuggish boys sniggered.

Sophie shrugged. "Haven't got one, so I couldn't say. Who are you, anyway?"

"I'm Draco Malfoy," said the boy. "And this is Crabbe, and that's Goyle. Who're you?"

A sudden expression of comprehension and recognition had come across Sophie's face, and there seemed to almost be a flicker of apprehension in her eyes. "I'm Sophie Tonks," she said, looking straight back at Malfoy and the same expression of comprehension dawned on his face as well. "Give a shout if you see a toad," said Sophie, stepping back and sliding the compartment door shut.

Sophie continued down the corridor with a strange feeling of foreboding spreading through her. She had always known _of_ her cousin, and now that she thought of it, she had vaguely known that he was about her age, but for some reason she had never consciously thought that he would be at school with her. She was very grateful to look up and be interrupted in her train of thought by the re-appearance of Neville, who looked miserable. "I can't find him! No one's seen him!"

Before Sophie could answer, she heard a voice behind her say, "Any luck?" as Hermione walked towards them.

"No," said Sophie.

"Let's ask in this one," suggested Hermione, indicating the compartment next to them.

"I've already-" started Neville, but Hermione had already slid the door open, to reveal two boys, one with red hair and a long nose with dirt on it. He was holding his wand up over a rat and his companion was a skinny boy with jet-black messy hair underneath which Sophie could see what looked to her like the end of a scar. He wore glasses that had been broken in the middle.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one." Hermione said.

"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said the redheaded boy. Sophie and Neville started to turn to leave, but Hermione remained where she was, looking at the wand in the redheaded boy's hand.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then."

She sat down, leaving Sophie and Neville standing awkwardly in the doorway. The boy looked rather taken aback.

"Er - all right."

He cleared his throat.

"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,

Turn this stupid fat rat yellow."

He waved his wand, but nothing happened. The rat stayed grey.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" asked Hermione. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard - I've learnt all our set books off by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough - I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"

The black-haired boy looked at his redheaded companion and Sophie thought they were both probably reeling from the shock of hearing that someone had memorized their set books off by heart. She gave the black-haired boy an amused smile to show that he needn't take all Hermione said very seriously and he gave her a small smile in return.

"I'm Ron Weasley," the redheaded boy muttered.

"Harry Potter," said the black-haired boy.

"_Harry Potter_?" repeated Sophie, barely able to believe her ears. This boy, the same age as she was, skinny with broken glasses, that she had just shared a casual joke with, was the Boy Who Lived that she had grown up hearing all about? Harry Potter had always seemed more like a mythical figure than a real boy her own age. It was almost too much to believe, but there it was, on his forehead, a bit of the scar obscured by his messy hair.

"Are you really?" said Hermione, much more calmly than Sophie. "I know all about you, of course - I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in _Modern Magical History_ and _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_."

"Am I?" said Harry, looking dazed.

"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best, I hear Dumbledore himself was one, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad..."

Sophie held out her hand to Harry. "I'm Sophie Tonks, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Harry shook her hand and then, to be polite, she shook Ron's hand as well.

"Well, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad," said Sophie.

"You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon," said Hermione and the three of them left Harry Potter and his friend alone. Sophie and Neville followed Hermione back towards their own compartment, Hermione saying that Sophie and Neville should probably get changed as well and that they would resume looking for Trevor afterwards. Sophie felt somewhat dazed. This had been a very curious day, not only was she finally on her way to Hogwarts, but she had met Neville Longbottom, her estranged cousin and Harry Potter. What an interesting year it's going to be, Sophie thought. And though she had been perfectly honest when she told Hermione and Neville that she did not mind which ever house she was Sorted into, Sophie now couldn't help wondering whether any of these intriguing people and herself would be in the same houses (she hoped that her Malfoy cousin would be in a different house from her -she definitely didn't want to have to contend with him for the next seven years more than was absolutely necessary).

Further search for Trevor the toad was rendered unnecessary; on returning to their compartment Neville spotted Trevor lurking on the floor and Hermione left the compartment to go ask the driver if they were nearly there while Sophie and Neville changed into their school robes. A voice then echoed through the train intoning: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Hermione opened the compartment door and slipped inside. "We're nearly there!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, we heard," said Sophie, shaking her long brown hair out of the neck of her black school robes. "Shall we go, then?"

Sophie, Neville and Hermione stepped out of their compartment and into the crowd of people in the corridor. They managed to make their way out of the train door and onto a small platform at Hogsmeade station.

"Potter, did she say?"

"_The_ Harry Potter?"

Murmurs and whispers raced around the Great Hall as Harry Potter sat down on the stool with the Sorting Hat on his head. The Hat did not speak immediately and Sophie could not help watching with curious anticipation along with everyone else to see which house the Boy Who Lived would be Sorted into.

Sophie knew that it was to her advantage that she had no particular preference in regards to which house she was Sorted into. She could practically feel the nerves of those who did have such a preference jangling beside her (there were only seven people left besides herself) and even she could not help feeling slightly anxious now.

After a painful four and a half minutes Hermione Granger had gotten her wish and had been Sorted into Gryffindor (the redheaded boy, Ron Weasley, had groaned at that) and Neville too had, after a long time, gone to Gryffindor. Sophie hoped he wasn't too disappointed. Sally-Anne Perks had gone to Gryffindor as well, and Draco Malfoy had gone to Slytherin immediately and looked extremely pleased with himself. All of the Black family had been in Slytherin, of course: Her mother and Draco's mother, everybody except their cousin Sirius who had been in-

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the Hat.

The Gryffindor table roared with excitement as Harry Potter slipped off the Hat and joined them, a look of pure relief on his thin face.

"Rivers, Oliver" was called next and Sophie's thoughts shifted back to her own prospective Sorting. Dad and Dora both Hufflepuffs, Mum and the entire Slytherin Black family except for that awful cousin Sirius the Gryffindor. Mum had said she could never understand how he could have turned out so bad...

"Smith, Sally."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The calling of "Thomas Dean" jerked Sophie's attention back to the present. They were in the T's; it couldn't be long now. Sure enough, after Dean Thomas was declared a Gryffindor, Professor McGonagall called:

"Tonks, Sophronia."

Sophie left the group of her fellow first years (there were only three others left now), took the Sorting Hat from Professor McGonagall, put it on and sat down.

"My, how interesting," said a voice on her ear. "An overwhelming sense of courage, a high degree of kindness...intensely loyal, but prone to jealousy, very clever but little motivation to study." Sophie was starting to feel uncomfortable, her insides squirming. "You have no preference any way, I see. In that case, it will have to be GRYFFINDOR!"

The last word broadcast to the school at large, Sophie removed the hat to give it to "Turpin, Lisa," and joined Hermione at the Gryffindor table where they were applauding her politely.


	3. The Duel and the Dog

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

"What's the matter?" Sophie asked Hermione whose brow was furrowed as they, Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown and Sally-Anne Perks, their roommates, changed from their robes into their pajamas.

"Didn't you hear what Harry Potter was saying to Malfoy at dinner?" asked Hermione in an undertone.

Sophie shrugged. "No. Were you eavesdropping, Hermione?"

Ignoring the question, Hermione continued, "He and Ron Weasley arranged to meet Malfoy and Crabbe in the trophy room at midnight tonight to duel each other."

Sophie shook her head as she climbed into bed. "Silly boys."

"Don't you understand?" hissed Hermione so that Parvati, Lavender and Sally-Anne wouldn't overhear her. "If they're caught think how many points they'll lose from Gryffindor!"

"Well, it's not like you can do anything about it," said Sophie, trying to stifle a yawn.

"I could tell Percy Weasley about it and he could stop them: he's a Prefect."

"Don't Hermione. Do you want to get a reputation for grassing like that? Just leave them alone."

Hermione seemed to deliberate for a moment, then, picking up her pink dressing gown and putting it on, said, "Fine, I won't tell Percy, but I _am_ going to stop them." And she turned and marched through the dormitory door.

_Uh oh_, thought Sophie. Ignoring the questioning looks from the other girls, she grabbed her own dressing gown and followed Hermione into the common room. Hermione sat down in a chair near the portrait hole.

"What d'you think you're doing?" asked Sophie.

"If they really do try and go I'll be here to stop them; I don't want them to lose Gryffindor points."

Sophie groaned, but not wanting to leave Hermione by herself, sat down to wait in the armchair beside her.

The common room was almost completely empty as the last few Gryffindors went to bed, putting out the lamps. The only light in the room came from the last embers of the extinguished fire and it was slightly spooky there. Sophie found herself in half-awake, half-asleep dozing state. Finally, the forms of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley appeared, descending the the staircase to the boys' dormitory and Sophie jerked completely awake. As they walked by Hermione and Sophie (whom they quite failed to notice), Hermione spoke: "I can't believe you're going to do this, Harry."

She stood up and re-lit one of the lamps. She was frowning at the two boys.

"_You!_ Go back to bed!" exclaimed Ron Weasley.

"I almost told your brother. Percy- he's a Prefect, he'd put a stop to this," snapped Hermione.

"Hermione, just leave it, let's go," said Sophie, covering her mouth with the back of her hand as she yawned again and tugging on Hermione's dressing gown sleeve. Hermione pushed her hand away.

"Come on," said Harry Potter to his friend Ron, opening the portrait and climbing. To Sophie's disbelief, Hermione climbed through the portrait hole behind Ron.

"Hermione!" Sophie called. "What are you doing?"

But Hermione wasn't listening. Feeling this could lead to nothing good, Sophie followed after them. She found Hermione still trying to persuade the other two: "_I_ don't want Slytherin to win the House Cup and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."

"Go away," said Ron Weasley.

"Come _on,_ Hermione," said Sophie, finally grabbing hold of Hermione's hand and pulling her back towards the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"All right," said Hermione, speaking over her shoulder to the two boys. "But I warned you. You just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow-"

Sophie gasped, interrupting Hermione's sermon. She had turned around to face the Fat Lady's portrait only to see that the Fat Lady had left and she and Hermione were locked out.

"Now what are we going to do?" asked Hermione.

"That's your problem. We've got to go, we're going to be late," said Ron Weasley, and he and Harry Potter set off leaving Sophie and Hermione standing beside the empty painting.

"Oh, fantastic," moaned Sophie, wishing she had never left the dormitory. D'you think she'll come back soon?"

"Let's go," said Hermione, following the boys.

"What? No!" said Sophie, half-running after her. She caught up with her and the other two near the end of the corridor. Hermione was talking.

"D'you think we're going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch us? If he finds all four of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you-"

"And I was trying to stop you from stopping them," muttered Sophie.

"-and you can back us up," finished Hermione.

"You've got some nerve-" said Ron Weasley.

"Shut up, all of you! I heard something," said Harry Potter.

The four of them walked slowly and lightly; they could hear a snuffling noise.

"Mrs. Norris?" asked Ron.

Sophie thought it was rather stupid to think such a noise could be made by a cat, and a moment later a figure on the ground moved suddenly at their approach and stood up. "Thank goodness you found me!"

It was Neville Longbottom.

"I've been out here for hours," said Neville. "I couldn't remember the new password to get into bed."

"Shhh," said Sophie, putting a finger to her lips. "Be quiet, Neville. The Fat Lady's left, so none of us can get back in."

"How's your arm?" asked Harry.

Neville held his arm out to show them. "Fine. Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute."

Harry nodded. "Good -well, look Neville, we've got to be somewhere, we'll see you later-"

"Don't leave me! I don't want to stay here alone, the Bloody Baron's been past twice already," cried Neville.

"If any of you get us caught," said Ron, glaring at Sophie, Hermione and Neville, "I'll never rest until I've leant that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell told us about and used it on you."

Sophie found this very unjust as neither she nor Neville had wanted anything to do with this affair, but Harry hissed at them all to be quiet and indicated that they should move on.

If Sophie had found the darkened common room spooky, it was nothing to the eeriness of walking through the dark and empty school, the only light being the moonlight shining through the high windows. The five of them made very little noise, but Sophie was sure the others must hear her heart beating.

Eventually they made it to the trophy room and slipped inside. Nobody was in there yet and the five of them edged along the walls, their eyes flitting to both doors all the time. They waited. Sophie felt very uncomfortable. How on earth had she managed to get herself into this situation? Hermione had been foolish enough to think she could stop Harry and Ron, she had stupid enough to follow Hermione, she had a cousin idiotic enough to come up with such a pointless plan...

Ron checked his watch. "He's late, maybe he's chickened out."

Sophie and the others jumped at a noise from the next room. Sophie assumed Malfoy had shown up at last, but then heard a voice that nearly made her heart stop:

"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner."

Filch! Harry waved frantically at the other four, indicating that they follow him. They did, trying to move as quickly and quietly as possible away from the sound of Filch's voice. They just managed to make it out when they heard Filch speak from inside the trophy room.

Harry mouthed, "This way!" to the others and together they crept down a corridor filled with suits of armour, the sound of Filch's footsteps getting nearer all the time. It was truly terrifying, and the stress of it suddenly overcame Neville who squeaked and started running, tripped, grabbed Ron Weasley and both of them fell over into a suit of armour. Sophie was sure she had never heard a louder noise.

"RUN!" shouted Harry. Sophie and the others did not have to be told twice. They tore along, following Harry through numerous twisting corridors. Sophie didn't dare look back to see if Filch was following them. Eventually they ended up near their Charms classroom which was far away from the trophy room and they stopped running, all gasping for breath.

"I think we've lost him," said Harry.

"I-_told_-you. I-told-you," said Hermione, panting for breath.

"We've got to get back to Gryffindor Tower quickly as possible," said Ron.

"Hopefully the Fat Lady will have come back," said Sophie.

"Malfoy tricked you. You realize that, don't you?" Hermione was speaking to Harry. "He was never going to meet you -Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off."

Ignoring her, Harry said, "Let's go."

They started off, but Peeves almost immediately came racing out of the classroom right in front of them, squealing.

"Shut up, Peeves -please- you'll get us thrown out," said Harry.

"Wandering around at midnight, ickle firsties?" Peeves said, cackling. "Tut tut tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."

"Not if you don't give us away, please, Peeves," said Sophie.

"Should tell Filch, I should. It's for your own good you know," Peeves eyes flashed wickedly.

"Get out of the way," Ron aimed a hit at Peeves.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"

They skirted under Peeves and ran for their lives until they slammed into a locked door.

"This is it! We're done for! This is the end!" exclaimed Ron. Sophie could hear Filch's footsteps coming closer and closer and couldn't help agreeing.

"Oh, move over," snapped Hermione, grabbing Harry's wand, tapping the lock and whispering, "_Alohomora_!"

The door unlocked and the five of them toppled in and pressed themselves against the other side of it, straining to hear Filch.

"Which way did they go, Peeves? Quick, tell me."

"Say 'please'," came Peeves' voice.

"Don't mess me about, Peeves, now _where_ _did they go_?"

"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please."

"All right -_please_."

"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" There was a sound like Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.

Sophie was about to say they should leave as soon as Filch was gone when she turned absent-mindedly and her words died in her throat: she was face to face with a monstrous three-headed dog that was drooling and growling, its six insane eyes raking them hungrily. She glanced at the others, only she and Neville had noticed the dog.

"He thinks this door is locked. I think we'll be OK -get _off_, Neville! _What_?" said Harry. Neville was tugging on Harry's sleeve. Harry turned and saw the dog too. Sophie was almost too scared to move.

Someone opened the door and the five of them fell through it. Sophie and the others flew through the corridor. There was no sign of Filch or Peeves and they sprinted on until they were back at Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady had mercifully returned.

"Where on earth -?" she began.

"Pig snout!" Sophie exclaimed with as much breath as she could muster. The Fat Lady pursed her lips but swung forward to let them in just the same.

All five of them climbed shakily through the portrait hole and collapsed into chairs in the common room. Except for their panting breaths there was silence for a long time. Neville in particular looked shocked and horrified and Sophie felt worse for him than she did for herself or the other three. She particularly had little sympathy for Harry or Ron as she felt this was their entire fault, really.

Finally, Ron spoke, "What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school? If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" Hermione obviously was in a very bad mood. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"You were looking at the _floor_?" Sophie asked her incredulously.

"I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads," said Harry.

"It was _not_ standing on the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something. I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed -or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed." And with that, Hermione marched up the staircase to the girls' dormitory.

Sophie rolled her eyes, but she too got up and with an awkward "Goodnight," to Neville, Harry and Ron, went up to her dormitory. Although Sophie couldn't help feeling a little angry with Harry and Ron for believing Malfoy, now that she was safely back in bed she couldn't help feeling that the adventure of the last hour or so had been rather exhilarating. It was hard to believe that she had really just been running all over Hogwarts in the dead of night with the Boy Who Lived. But really, Sophie thought, grinning into her pillow, he was more like a normal eleven-year-old boy than she ever would have guessed.

**Hi there! I hope you're enjoying this story so far. I know some people have been reading it, so if you do read, I would really appreciate it if you left a review, regardless of what you think. It helps to know these aren't "The Fanfics to No One." (You know, like how Harry was getting "The Letters From No One?" Well…yeah…*ahem*)**


	4. The Halloween Troll

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**The Halloween Troll**

"Hermione?" Sophie asked, standing in front of one of the bathroom stalls.

"Go away," Hermione's choked and muffled voice came from the other side; Sophie could tell she was crying.

"Hermione, don't pay any attention to that stupid Ron Weasley. He only said those things because he's jealous of how well you do in lessons."

"What do lessons matter? He's right; no one can stand me."

"That's not true! I'm your _friend_, Hermione."

There was a shuddering sigh from the other side of the stall door, then it opened and Hermione came out. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were streaked with tears. She walked over to one of the sinks, her chest heaving as she tried to control her sobs.

"I didn't -I wanted- I mean," She buried her face in her hands and took a deep breath. Sophie put an arm around her and patted her on the shoulder. "I was so excited when I found out I was a witch," said Hermione, still holding her hands over her face. "I had always thought I was a bit different from other people. And then I was so amazed to find out there was this whole magical world that I could be part of so-" she gave a little hiccough, "I tried to learn everything about magic and wizards I possibly could, but now everyone hates me for being such a know-it-all."

"That's not-" began Sophie, but she was interrupted by the door opening. Parvati Patil and Sally-Anne Perks came in, immersed in conversation:

"...hear what Hermione Granger said to Ron Weasley during Charms?" Parvati was saying.

"It's Win_gaaar_dium Leviosa!" Sally-Anne giggled, grossly mimicking Hermione's pronunciation.

The two of them stopped dead, only just noticing Hermione and Sophie. Hermione gave a sob, wriggled out of Sophie's arms and ran back into a bathroom stall, slamming the door behind her. Glaring at Parvati and Sally-Anne, both of whom looked extremely guilty, Sophie tried again:

Hermione-"

"Just go away! Leave me alone!"

Parvati and Sally-Anne quickly slipped out the door, not needing to be told twice. Sophie paused, then hoisted her bag over her shoulder. "You really shouldn't pay attention to them, Hermione."

There was a sniffle. "Please, Sophie, just go to Transfiguration without me. I want to be by myself."

Sophie sighed, "OK," and left the bathroom.

Sophie only just missed being late for Transfiguration, slipping into a seat beside Lavender Brown just as the bell rang. Parvati and Sally-Anne avoided eye contact with her and Ron Weasley turned around in his seat as she sat down. He looked uncomfortable to see that she wasn't accompanied by Hermione.

Hermione didn't show up at all during Transfiguration. When class ended and everyone went into the Great Hall, Sophie went back to the bathroom Hermione had been in to find her still crying in one of the stalls and refusing to leave.

"But you've already missed Transfiguration!" said Sophie in disbelief. What had happened to Hermione? "You're not going to miss History of Magic too?"

"Yes I am! Why should I go if I'm such an annoying know-it-all?"

And try as she might, Sophie could not convince Hermione otherwise, and so went off to History of Magic by herself.

History of Magic was such a boring subject that consisted almost entirely of Professor Binns (a ghost) reading about wizarding events in a monotone voice. Sophie, therefore, allowed her mind to wander back to Hermione still crying in the bathroom. She wished Hermione wouldn't take Ron's words so much to heart; he seemed rather uneasy that his words had caused this unprecedented behaviour in Hermione, and it seemed to Sophie that he had just spoken thoughtlessly, but she wasn't sure if he was the type to apologize or not. Sophie had known Hermione was insecure, but she hadn't realized a casual comment would hurt her so badly.

Somehow the boring monotony of History of Magic ended and the class chattered excitedly as they went off to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast. While they were leaving the classroom Lavender caught up with Parvati and asked where Hermione was. Sophie heard Parvati say that Hermione was crying in a bathroom and wanted to be alone. Sophie hadn't eaten since breakfast, so she decided at the feast and then bring some food to Hermione, if she still hadn't shown up.

Sophie couldn't help enjoying the Halloween feast in spite of herself. The Great Hall was filled with thousands of live bats and carved pumpkins. The house-elves had outdone themselves and Sophie helped herself to mashed potatoes and baked pumpkin. The feast was delicious and under the influence of good filling food and the festive atmosphere, Sophie became on amiable terms with Parvati and Sally-Anne again. Sophie's mood had lifted considerably when Professor Quirrell suddenly streaked into the Hall up to the High Table, gasping, "Troll -in the dungeons- thought you ought to know." And he slumped over onto the floor.

Students all around started screaming and yelling as general panic broke out. Sophie's brain seemed to be working in slow motion in comparison to her beating heart as she struggled to fully comprehend Professor Quirrell's words. In the confusion and panic several purple firecrackers erupted up by the High Table. Sophie turned as the Hall settled down to look up at Professor Dumbledore who said, "Prefects lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

Still stunned, Sophie began to follow along with the rest of the Gryffindors. Percy Weasley was calling bossy instructions to them as they were going up a staircase when Sophie remembered: Hermione! She let out a gasp, turned and started fighting her way back down the stairs against a stream of other students.

"Where are you going? We're supposed to be going back to Gryffindor Tower," a voice called to her. Sophie turned round and saw Ron Weasley and Harry Potter looking down at her; evidently they had heard her gasp and noticed her leaving the group.

"I've got to tell Hermione; she doesn't know about the troll," explained Sophie. Without waiting for a reply she turned away, heading for the girls' bathroom that Hermione had been crying in. To her surprise, Harry and Ron caught up to her shortly.

"We'll come with you," said Harry.

Surprised, Sophie nodded. She was glad that Ron seemed to recognize that it was his fault Hermione was in the bathroom and she was relieved not to have to go through the corridors by herself with a troll on the loose.

The three of them were hurrying along when footsteps suddenly sounded behind them.

"Percy!" Ron pulled Sophie and Harry behind a statue.

It was not Percy though; it was Professor Snape who passed their hiding place and turned a corner. "What's he doing? Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?" asked Harry.

Ron replied, "Search me."

Sophie, who couldn't care less about Snape's reason for not being in the dungeons, started forward, Harry and Ron behind her. She thought they were still set on warning Hermione, as she was, but when Harry next spoke it was to observe the direction Snape had been taking. Sophie turned around to glare at Harry when Ron held up a hand and asked, "Can you smell something?"

Now that Ron had mentioned it, Sophie realized she could smell something horrible. Next moment there was a deep grunting sort of noise and the outline of something large appeared at the end of the corridor. The three of them edged backwards into the shadows.

The troll was right there, skulking through the corridor: fortunately it had completely failed to notice them. However it went into the girls' bathroom where Sophie knew Hermione was. She gasped, momentarily unsure of what to do. Harry and Ron however, after muttering something Sophie couldn't hear, sprang into action and ran up to the bathroom and -to Sophie's horror- slammed and locked the door.

Her horror and outrage seemed to have jump-started her brain again. She ran forwards and seized both Harry and Ron by their wrists.

"_What_ did you do that for? You just locked Hermione in with the troll!" Sophie's exclamation was punctuated by a scream from inside the bathroom. With one glance at Harry and Ron, whose faces were now white with horror as they realized what they'd done, Sophie darted forwards, unlocked the door and stepped inside, Ron and Harry following close behind her.

Hermione was cowering against the far wall, the troll bearing down on her. She looked petrified.

"Confuse it!" Harry yelled, grabbing a tap the troll had knocked off the wall and throwing it hard. Ron ran to the other side of the room while the troll, hearing the noise, lifted its club and started towards Harry and Sophie.

Ron threw a metal pipe at it, shouting, "Oy, pea-brain!" The troll turned towards Ron, giving Sophie and Harry time to run to Hermione. Sophie seized her arms, trying to pull Hermione towards the exit.

"Come on, run, _run_!" Harry yelled at Hermione. He tried to help Sophie pull her along, but Hermione was as stiff as though she'd had a Body-Bind Curse placed on her.

The troll had advanced on Ron, and Harry suddenly left Sophie and Hermione, ran, and leaped onto the troll's back, his arms around its neck. Sophie watched, transfixed with horror as the troll howled, whirled around and swung its club madly. Hermione sank to the floor, terrified, as Ron raised his wand and said, "_Wingardium Leviosa!"_

Sophie had just thought that that was a rather pointless spell to be using at this moment when she suddenly saw its use: the troll's club rose into the air and fell onto its head, concussing the troll and causing it to fall forwards onto its front.

Harry got up shaking, but apparently otherwise OK. Ron's wand was still raised and from the look on his face Sophie suspected that the success of his Levitation Charm had been pure luck rather than any great foresight on his part.

Hermione rose cautiously. "Is it -dead?" She asked tentatively.

"I don't think so. I think it's just been knocked out," said Harry, bending over to pick his wand up (he had somehow managed to get it stuck up the troll's nose). "Urgh - troll bogies."

Loud footsteps sounded outside the bathroom and Professors McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell suddenly burst in. Quirrell seemed terrified at the sight of the troll; Snape bent to examine it, but McGonagall had eyes only for Sophie, Harry and Ron.

"What on earth were you thinking of? You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?" She asked them, her voice icy with anger.

Hermione spoke, "Please, Professor McGonagall - they were looking for me."

Professor McGonagall looked deeply surprised; she obviously hadn't noticed Hermione at first. "Miss Granger!"

Hermione lowered and head and spoke to her shoes: "I went looking for the troll because I - I thought I could deal with it on my own - you know, because I've read all about them. If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose, Ron knocked it out with its own club and Sophie tried to get me out. they didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."

Sophie had never admired Hermione before so much as she did then.

Professor McGonagall stared. "Well - in that case...Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own? Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this. I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their Houses."

Hermione left the bathroom and Professor McGonagall turned back to Sophie and the boys.

"Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

Sophie, Harry and Ron hurried out of the bathroom and didn't speak for a while. Sophie felt rather awkward and embarrassed. Finally Ron spoke:

"We should have got more than fifteen points."

"Ten, you mean," said Harry. "Once she's taken off Hermione's."

"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that. Mind you, we _did_ save her," said Ron.

Harry replied, "She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her."

"Well, even so..." said Sophie. "Thanks; I wouldn't have done very well in there on my own. You were both very brave."

They reached the Fat Lady, gave the password and entered the common room. The feast had been brought there and everyone was eating, but Sophie's eyes immediately sought Hermione who was standing by herself at the door. After an awkward pause, they all said "Thanks," whilst avoiding eye contact and then quickly separated to finish the feast.

Sophie settled herself in one of the armchairs next to Sally-Anne. Hermione was a few seats away and Harry and Ron were on the other side of the room. None of them were speaking, they focused on their plates of food from the feast, but every so often one of them would look up and catch another's eye, then they would quickly look away again. Sophie found herself unable to keep her face completely straight and would start smiling whenever this happened. She decided that Harry and Ron were both all right after all, that Hermione was a braver girl than she had taken her for, that she never wanted to be near a troll again, and that this was the strangest Halloween she had ever experienced.


	5. Flames and Flamel

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**Flames and Flamel**

"Concentrate, Sophie," said Hermione. "You'd get it if you would just focus."

Sophie sighed. Hermione was trying to teach her how to produce the portable flames that she was so adept at. Sophie understood the concept but was having difficulty applying it because her mind kept wandering away to her and her friends' shared frustration at being unable to find so much as a scrap of information about Nicolas Flamel, the name that Hagrid had so tantalizingly dropped that had something to do with whatever that formidable three-headed dog was guarding. Yet even after hours spent searching through library books, they could find no mention of Flamel. Frustrated, Hermione had offered to teach Sophie how to produce bluebell flames, just to have something else to occupy themselves with.

Sophie paused for a moment, then, gathering her thoughts, brandished her wand while saying the incantation for the spell, and violet flames shot out of the end of her wand.

"Oh! Well done!" cried Hermione. The flames were not as strong as Hermione's and were much more short-lived, but it was an improvement.

Ron walked over to Sophie and Hermione carrying his chess set. "Do either of you want a game of chess?"

"Both of us against you?" suggested Sophie.

"Two on one isn't fair," said Ron, rolling his eyes.

"It's a compliment," replied Sophie. "The only way we stand any chance against you is if we're allowed to play together."

"Oh, fine," conceded Ron, unable to keep himself from smiling.

They sat down to play. Ron really was much better than either of them at chess. Sophie thought that she would never be very good at it because it required too much hard thinking, as far as she was concerned. It surprised her somewhat that Hermione was so terrible at it, but that was probably simply due to a lack of practice, Sophie suspected.

Harry joined them before very long, coming in from a Quidditch practice. Harry played Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and had already played one spectacular game in which he caught the Snitch in his mouth. That same game had caused them disquiet, however, because it had appeared as though Professor Snape had been trying to curse Harry's broom from the stands and have him fall to his death. Harry didn't look too well at the present moment.

"Don't talk to me for a moment. I need to concen-" Ron broke off. "What's the matter with you?" He asked Harry. "You look terrible."

"Snape's going to be refereeing our next match against Hufflepuff," said Harry quietly.

"Don't play," said Hermione.

Ron added, "Say you're ill."

"Pretend to break your leg,"

"_Really_ break your leg."

Sophie rolled her eyes. "That won't help, broken bones can be fixed in a second; he'd never get away with it."

"And I can't anyway; there isn't a reserve Seeker," said Harry. "If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."

The portrait hole opened and they looked up. Neville had somehow managed to climb into the common room though his legs had been stuck together. On seeing him, most of the people in the room started laughing, Hermione, however, sprang to her feet and did the counter-curse to the Leg-Locker Curse that had evidently been used on Neville. He had fallen over after climbing through the portrait hole and Sophie ran over to him and helped him up. She took his sweaty hand in hers and led him over to sit with herself, Hermione, Harry and Ron.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

Neville replied, "Malfoy. I met him outside the library. he said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on."

Hermione and Ron urged Neville to report Malfoy while Sophie bristled with anger. How could Malfoy be so cruel to Neville of all people? But then, Sophie thought for the first time, was it possible that Malfoy didn't know what their aunt and uncle had done to Neville's parents? Perhaps Malfoy had only a vague idea of the reason they had been sent to prison; perhaps he did not know the names of their victims.

"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that," Neville was saying.

Harry pulled a Chocolate Frog out of his pocket and gave it to Neville, saying, "You're worth twelve of Malfoy. The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."

Neville unwrapped the frog and replied, "Thanks, Harry. I think I'll go to bed. D'you want the card, you collect them, don't you?" And he left.

"Dumbledore again," said Harry, looking at the Famous Wizard card. "He was the first one I ever-"

Harry broke off and gasped.

"What is it?" asked Sophie as Harry stared at the card.

"_I've found him_! I've found Flamel! I _told_ you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here - listen to this: 'Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood _and his work on alchemy with his partner Nicolas Flamel_'!"

"Stay there!" cried Hermione, flying up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

"Let me see the card, Harry," said Sophie. He handed it to her and she read the words on it. "I can't believe how stupid I've been not to remember!" said Sophie. "I must have read this card a thousand times, and _I_ never remembered Flamel was mentioned."

Hermione came running back full speed carrying a huge book that Sophie had seen her reading in their dormitory before.

Hermione started flipping quickly through the pages of the book. "I never thought to look in here! I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"_Light?_" Ron said, incredulously while Sophie grinned.

"Be quiet, Ron, I need to find something," said Hermione.

Sophie, Harry and Ron sat quietly while Hermione continued her frenzied search. Suddenly she cried out, "I knew it! I _knew _it!"

"Are we allowed to speak yet?" asked Ron.

"Nicolas Flamel," said Hermione, ignoring Ron. "Is the _only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone_!"

"The what?" asked Sophie, Harry and Ron together.

Hermione sighed, "Oh, _honestly_, don't you three read? Look - read that, there."

They read:

'_The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal. There have been many reports of the Philosopher's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr Nicholas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera-lover. Mr Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight)."_

"See? The dog must be guarding Flamel's Philosopher's Stone!" explained Hermione! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it. That's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"

"A stone that makes gold and stops you ever dying! No wonder Snape's after it! _Anyone _would want it," Harry pointed out.

Ron added, "And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that _Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry_. He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"

"You mean six hundred and sixty-six," Sophie said.

It was next day in Defence Against the Dark Arts that Harry told the others that he had decided he was going to play in the upcoming Quidditch match.

"If I don't," he said, "All the Slytherins will think I'm just too scared to face Snape. I'll show them...it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win."

Hermione said, "Just as long as we're not wiping you off the pitch."

Gryffindor did win the next match and were now in the lead for the House Cup. Sophie, Hermone and Ron's jubilation was dampened, however, when Harry told them that he had overheard Snape talking to Quirrell after the match and that it had seemed as though Snape was trying to force Quirrell to tell him how to get past the enchantments that were in place to protect the Philosopher's Stone.

"So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" Hermione summarized, looking alarmed.

"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," said Ron.


	6. Saving the Stone

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**Saving the Stone**

Sophie stood nervously with Hermione outside the staff room. Students passing by were either giving them icy glares or else acting as though the two girls were part of the stone wall, all of which was rather uncomfortable. Very few students were now on good terms with Sophie, Hermione, Harry or Neville since they together lost Gryffindor two hundred points for being out of bed in the middle of the night. They had been delivering an illegal dragon of Hagrid's to friends of Ron's brother, Charlie, who worked with dragons in Romania. Hagrid had bought it from a stranger in a pub and they had earned a detention in the Forbidden Forest in addition to their points lost. It was there that Harry had discovered that it was You Know Who who wanted the Stone and that Snape must want to get it for him. It was just that day that they had found out that Hagrid had had a momentary lapse in judgement and told the stranger (whom they were sure had been Snape) that if Fluffy was played some music, he would fall asleep. With Professor Dumbledore gone to the Ministry of Magic, Harry, Ron, Sophie and Hermione felt sure Snape would try to steal the Stone that very evening. Consequently, Harry had instructed Sophie and Hermione to wait outside the staff room for Snape and follow him if they saw him.

Before very long the door to the staff room opened and none other than Snape walked out. He noticed Sophie and Hermione almost immediately. "What are the two of you doing here?" he asked them.

"We're waiting for Professor Flitwick," said Hermione, timidly. "We had a question about the Charms exam-"

"I'll get him," said Snape, turning on his heel, his black robes billowing out behind him as he re-entered the staff room.

The second Snape was through the door Sophie and Hermione set off sprinting away from the staff room, not wanting to be there when Snape and Flitwick came back. They slowed down once they'd put enough space between themselves and the staff room and walked briskly to Gryffindor Tower and climbed through the portrait hole. Harry and Ron were already in the common room that was otherwise deserted.

"I'm sorry, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed as she and Sophie joined the two boys.

"What happened?" asked Ron.

"We met Snape and Hermione told him we were waiting for Flitwick and Snape went to get him, so we ran for it," explained Sophie.

"We don't know where Snape went," added Hermione.

Harry said, "Well that's it then, isn't it?" He had a determined glint in his eyes that Sophie had never seen there before. "I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."

"You're mad!" Ron cried.

Hermione added, "You can't! After what McGonagall and Snape have said? You'll be expelled!"

"SO WHAT? Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back!" Sophie and Ron both flinched, rattled by the use of You Know Who's name. Even Hermione looked uncomfortable with its usage. "Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn't matter any more, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor win the house cup? If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I'll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find me there. It's only dying a bit later than I would going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you three say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?" Harry looked very fierce as he said this. Somewhat stunned with admiration for Harry's courage, daring plan and unabashed use of You Know Who's name, Sophie gazed at him for a moment or two before speaking.

"Harry's right," she said, and Hermione nodded silently.

"I'll use the invisibility cloak. It's just lucky I got it back," said Harry.

Ron asked, "But will it cover all four of us?"

Harry stared at him, then looked from Ron to Sophie to Hermione, as though unsure of what Ron meant. "All - all four of us?"

"Oh, come off it, you don't think we'd let you go alone?" asked Ron.

Matter-of-factly, Hermione put in, "Of course not. How do you think you'd get to the Stone without us? I'd better go and look through my books, there might be something useful..."

Had she been asked a few weeks previously, Sophie would have said that exams were the most challenging part of school, but with her exams now behind her and the prospect of facing unknown perilous dangers tonight she realized how wrong she would have been. But then, it would never have occurred to her that she would, all of twelve years old, be trying to stop You Know Who from coming back to power.

Sophie swallowed hard as Harry's words from earlier in the day floated back to the surface of her mind:_ "Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over?" "Losing points doesn't matter any more, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor win the house cup?"_ Sophie had grown up hearing her parents talk about the horror of those eleven years when he had waged war in the wizarding world. Even Dora remembered some of it, though she had been very young at the time. Sophie knew it was crucial he not be allowed to return and finish what he had started.

Sophie fingered her wand in her pocket. Dinner was finished and she, Harry, Hermione and Ron were in the Gryffindor common room waiting for everyone to leave before they set off to go after the Stone. Hermione was flitting through her notes in hopes of finding anything that might help them get through the protective spells and harry and Ron were just sitting looking as apprehensive as Sophie felt. She had taken to pacing in front of the fire, thinking nervously about what they were about to do, about what her parents would say if they knew what she was doing now...

Eventually the common room cleared and Harry got the invisibility cloak from the boys' dormitory.

"We'd better put the cloak on here, and make sure it covers all three of us," said Harry. "If Filch spots one of our feet wandering around on its own-"

"What are you doing?"

Sophie jumped slightly. She had assumed that the common room had been emptied and hadn't noticed Neville who had been obscured by one of the armchairs.

Harry said, "Nothing, Neville, nothing," as they all tried not to appear too guilty.

They did not deceive Neville. "You're going out again," said he.

"No, no, no, no. We're not," Hermione said. "Why don't you go to bed, Neville?"

"You can't go out, you'll be caught again. Gryffindor will be in even more trouble," Neville said.

Harry countered, "You don't understand. This is important."

"Please, Neville," Sophie added. "We can't explain, but there's something we've got to do."

Neville ignored her. He moved so that he was standing in front of the portrait hole. "I won't let you do it. I'll - I'll fight you!"

"_Neville_, get away from that hole and don't be an idiot-" started Ron.

Neville shouted back to Ron, "Don't you call me an idiot! I don't think you should be breaking any more rules! And you were the one who told me to stand up to people!"

"Yes, but not to _us_. Neville, you don't know what you're doing," Ron said as he stepped forward. Neville raised his fists as though preparing to fight Ron.

"Go on then, try and hit me! I'm ready!"

Sophie was thoroughly astonished at this unprecedented behavior in Neville.

"_Do something,_" Harry said to Hermione, who stepped towards Neville, raising her wand.

"Neville, I'm really, really sorry about this. _Petrificus Totalus_!"

Sophie winced as Hermione's Body-Bind Curse hit Neville and he fell to the floor, stiff as a corpse and unable to move. She ran with Hermione to turn Neville over.

Harry asked, "What've you done to him?"

Hermione looked thoroughly upset. "It's the full Body-Bind. Oh, Neville, I'm so sorry."

Harry added, "We had to Neville, no time to explain," as Sophie pulled a cushion from one of the armchairs and propped Neville up on it so that his head and shoulders might be more comfortable; she hated having to leave him there like this, as he had only been trying to do the right thing in stopping them.

"You'll understand later, Neville," Ron put in. He too looked genuinely sorry to leave Neville in such a state.

The four of them put the invisibility cloak on and left Gryffindor Tower. It was very reminiscent of the night they had gone to the trophy room, Sophie felt. Now, however, they would be facing dangers much greater than Filch.

With very few problems, they soon arrived at the door to the third floor corridor. It was slightly open.

Harry indicated this, "Well, there you are. Snape's already got past Fluffy."

All four of them hesitated for a moment, steeling themselves for what they were about to do. Harry looked at his three friends.

"If you want to go back, I won't blame you. You can take the cloak, I won't need it now."

Ron said, "Don't be stupid,"

Hermione added, "We're coming,"

"We won't leave you, Harry," Sophie said. The very idea of abandoning her friends to dangers unknown was unthinkable to her.

They entered the room. They noticed a harp at Fluffy's feet that Snape must have used, and Harry quickly produced a flute and, putting it to his lips, began playing. The formidable dog dozed off at once.

"Keep playing," Ron told Harry as they took the cloak off and examine the trapdoor. "I think we'll be able to pull the door open. Want to go first, Hermione?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, I don't!"

Ron opened the trapdoor. "All right."

Hermione asked him as he peered down into the opening, "What can you see?"

"Nothing," Ron answered. "Just black -there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop."

Sophie stifled a shudder; the idea of having to jump down through blackness into the unknown was terrifying. But Harry, still playing the flute, pointed at himself.

Ron looked at him. "You want to go first? Are you sure? I don't know how deep this thing goes. Give the flute to Hermione so she can keep him asleep."

Harry gave the flute to Hermione who started to play. Then he lowered himself into the trapdoor opening, holding onto the edge with his fingertips. He said something Sophie couldn't hear to Ron, and then let go. Sophie watched his fingertips disappear from sight and there was an awful few seconds of silence, then-

"It's OK!" Harry's voice (which sounded very far away) came up through the hole and Sophie felt a wave of relief sweep over her. "It's a soft landing, you can jump!"

Ron quickly followed. After glancing at Hermione who indicated that Sophie should follow Ron, she took a deep breath and jumped.

Falling like this was a terrible sensation, even knowing that Harry and Ron were OK below. After a few moments she landed on something soft.

"OK, Sophie?" Ron asked.

"Yeah," Sophie replied. Overhead the music had stopped and Hermione, she supposed, had jumped. Sophie didn't like the feel of the soft, plantish sort of thing she had landed on and wriggled away from it.

Hermione landed. "We must be miles under the school."

Ron agreed, "Lucky this plant thing's here, really,"

"_Lucky_!" shouted Hermione, and Sophie suddenly realized the plant had wound itself around Harry and Ron, attempting to strangle them. "Look at the two of you!"

Sophie and Hermione stood next to each other, appalled, as their two friends struggled against the plant. Both girls had managed to avoid letting the plant get a hold of them.

Hermione cried, "Stop moving! I know what this is - it's Devil's Snare!"

Ron did not take well to this. "Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called," he said, "That's a great help."

"Shut up!" Hermione hissed, sounding panicked. "I'm trying to remember how to kill it!"

Harry struggled to prevent the plant from throttling him around the neck. "Well, hurry up, I can't breathe!"

Hermione wrung her hands as she thought aloud. "Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare...What did Professor Sprout say? It likes the dark and the damp-"

Harry's voice choked out, "So light a fire!"

"Yes, of course, but there's no wood!" cried Hermione, frenzied.

"No _wood?" _Sophie yelled, incredulously at the same time that Ron shouted, "HAVE YOU GONE MAD? ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"

"Oh, right!" said Hermione, pulling out her wand and muttering the incantation.

However, just at that moment one of the vines that Sophie and Hermione had till then managed to keep at bay lurched forwards and wrapped itself around Hermione's legs, causing her to topple over. A feeble flame managed to escape from her wand, but died as she fell face down onto the plant which proceeded to entwine itself around her struggling torso.

Horror-struck, Sophie pulled out her own wand. Summoning all the concentration she possessed, she performed the bluebell flame spell Hermione had been teaching her. Instantly, enormous blue flames shot out the end of her wand and the Devil's Snare receded, freeing Hermione, Harry and Ron.

"Lucky you know that spell so well, Sophie," gasped Hermione, massaging her sides where the plant had wound itself around her.

Sophie shook her head. "Lucky you knew it so well and taught me, Hermione."

"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione," said Harry.

Ron agreed, "Yeah, and lucky Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis - 'there's no wood,' _honestly_."

There was a stone passageway that lead away from the Devil's Snare. "This way," said Harry unnecessarily, leading them on.

The passage led downwards and they walked along it, not speaking. Then Sophie began to hear a tinkling noise up ahead.

"Can you hear something?" asked Ron.

"Do you think it's a ghost?" asked Harry.

"I don't know," replied Ron. "Sounds like wings to me."

"There's light ahead," Harry noticed. "I can see something moving."

They came to a very bright room at the end of the passage. Flying around inside were what appeared to be many shiny birds. There was a door on the other side of the room.

Ron asked, "Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?"

"Probably. They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once..." Harry responded. "Well, there's nothing for it...I'll run."

The other three watched as Harry ran across to the door. Surprisingly, the birds did nothing at all to him and Sophie, Hermione and Ron followed after him. Harry was trying to open the door, but it wouldn't move.

"_Alohomora_!" cried Hermione. Still, the door remained locked.

"Now what?" asked Ron.

"These birds," Hermione observed. "They can't just be here for decoration."

"Broomsticks!" cried Sophie, suddenly noticing them on the floor. "What on earth-?"

Harry spoke suddenly, "They're not birds! They're keys! Winged keys - look carefully. So that must mean...we've got to catch the key to the door!"

"But there are _hundreds_ of them!" said Hermione.

"We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one," said Ron. "Probably silver like the handle."

They each took a broomstick and managed to locate the correct key (it was lucky Harry was such an excellent Seeker, thought Sophie). Sophie, Hermione and Ron cornered the key so that Harry was able to seize it. They landed again and Harry used it to unlock the door.

"Ready?" he asked them. They nodded and he swung the door open.

The brightness of the key room was a deep contrast with this next chamber: it was so dark they could hardly see, until they stepped into the room and it suddenly became just as bright as the previous. Sophie was immediately reminded of a graveyard as she saw huge stone pieces standing in lines in the room, but then as she took in the sight, she realized that they were giant, faceless chessmen. They were standing before an enormous chessboard, the door beyond it.

"Now what do we do?" asked Harry.

Ron answered, "It's obvious, isn't it? We've got to play our way across the room." Sophie shivered slightly. She really didn't feel like playing chess at this moment. She almost always lost at it anyways.

"How?" Hermione asked.

"I think we're going to have to be chessmen." Ron went up to one of the black knights. Touching the horse, the chessman seemed to come to life and Ron asked, "Do we - er - have to join you to get acros?" The knight nodded.

"This needs thinking about. I suppose we've got to take the place of three of the black pieces..." Ron said. He paused for a while before saying, "Now, don't be offended or anything, but neither of you are that good at chess -"

"We're not offended. Just tell us what to do," said Harry, and Sophie nodded.

"Well, Harry," began Ron. "You take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, You go next to him instead of that castle. Sophie you take the place of the other castle."

"What about you?" asked Hermione.

"I'm going to be a knight," Ron replied.

They took their places.

"White always plays first in chess. Yes... look..." Ron observed. A white pawn had moved forward two squares.

Ron directed the black pieces. The white players were just as violent as the chessmen in real wizard chess: they showed no mercy and smashed the black players that they took. Sophie was nervous, but she felt confident in Ron's chess-playing ability and was fairly sure they would win. After they had been playing for some time, he seemed to be thinking seriously to himself.

"We're nearly there. Let me think let me think..." Ron spoke softly, but the other three could hear him. "Yes...It's the only way... I've got to be taken."

"NO!" Harry, Sophie and Hermione all cried. Sophie's mind was reeling. They couldn't lose Ron, they _couldn't_!

"That's chess!" Ron seemed annoyed. "You've got to make some sacrifices! I take one step forward and she'll take me - that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!"

"But -" Harry protested.

"Do you want to stop Snape or not?"

"Ron -" Hermione and Sophie spoke at the same time.

"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone!" Much as they didn't want to, they could see his point. "Ready? Here I go - now, don't hang around once you've won."

Ron palely but bravely stepped forwards. The white queen leapt forwards as well and struck his head hard, knocking him out before dragging him to the side of the chessboard. Sophie fought her impulse to go to Ron, knowing that she must stay put. Harry made his move and checkmated the king. The king threw Harry his crown and the white chessmen cleared a space for them to walk through to the door. Knowing they must go on, Sophie, Hermione and Harry ran through the door, leaving Ron's unconscious figure by the

"What if he's -?" Hermione began.

"He'll be all right," said Harry, although Sophie thought he didn't sound entirely sure. "What do you reckon's next?"

"We've had Sprout's, that was the Devil's Snare; Flitwick must've put charms on the keys; McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive;" recounted Hermione as they came to another door. "That leaves Quirrell's spell, and Snape's."

Harry said, "All right?"

"Go on," said Hermione. Sophie nodded.

"We've got to keep going."

As Harry opened the door the three of them could immediately smell something horrible. Sophie immediately remembered the troll they had encountered on Halloween, and, sure enough, there was an unconscious troll lying on the ground in the middle of the room.

"I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one. Come on, I can't breathe," Harry said as they walked through the room to the next door. Harry opened it and Sophie, who had been expecting something much worse than a troll in the next room, was surprised: here there was only a simple table with seven bottles sitting there.

Harry spoke first: "Snape's. What do we have to do?" As he spoke they entered the room and Sophie felt a sudden burst of heat come from behind her. They turned and saw that purple flames had suddenly appeared behind them and Hermione pointed ahead and they noticed black flames barring there their way forward as well.

Hermione picked up a piece of parchment near the bottles. "Look!" Together they read:

_Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind, _

_Two of us will help you, which ever you would find, _

_One among us seven will let you move ahead, _

_Another will transport the drinker back instead, _

_Two among our number hold only nettle wine, _

_Three of us are killers, waiting bidden in line. _

_Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore, _

_To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four: _

_First, however slyly the poison tries to hide _

_You will always find some on nettle wine's left side; _

_Second, different are those who stand at either end, _

_But if you would move onward, neither is your friend; _

_Third, as you see clearly, all are different size, _

_Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides; _

_Fourth, the second left and the second on the right _

_Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight._

"Brilliant," Hermione sighed. "This isn't magic - it's logic - a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here forever."

"But so will we, won't we?" Harry seemed to think this would be more difficult than Sophie thought it would be.

"No, we just ned to think through the information on here," said Sophie.

"Right," said Hermione. "Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire, and one will get us back through the purple."

Harry questioned, "But how do we know which to drink?"

"Give me a minute." Hermione studied the parchment then muttered it to herself while looking at the bottles. Harry and Sophie let her do this, and stood slightly apart from her.

"Harry," said Sophie, speaking lowly so as not to disturb Hermione. "Don't you think this is all rather odd?"

"What do you mean?"

"All these protective enchantments. Snape seems to have gotten through fine and we've made it so far, don't you think Dumbledore could have protected the Stone better if he wanted to?"

Harry looked at Sophie. "What are you saying? You don't think Dumbledore _wanted_ somebody to steal the Stone?"

Sophie felt uncomfortable. "I can't see why he would want that, but this all just seems so strange."

"Got it," Hermione said. The other two joined her at the table again. "The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire - toward the Stone."

"There's only enough there for one of us. That's hardly one swallow," said Harry. "Which one will get you back through the purple flames?" Hermione pointed at a different bottle at the end.

"You two drink that," said Harry.

Sophie hated the idea of harry going on all by himself. "Oh, Harry-" she began.

"No, listen," Harry cut her off. "Get back and get Ron. Grab brooms from the flying- key room, they'll get you out of the trapdoor and past Fluffy - go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, we need him. I might be able to hold Snape off for a while, but I'm no match for him, really."

"But Harry," Hermione said. "What if You-Know-Who's with him?"

Sophie shivered. The very thought of You Know Who being so close by was terrifying to her.

"Well," said Harry. "I was lucky once, wasn't I? I might get lucky again." Hermione then did what Sophie felt too embarrassed to do: she ran at Harry and embraced him tightly.

"Hermione!"

"Harry - you're a great wizard, you know," Hermione told him, releasing him.

"I'm not as good as you," said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let go of him.

"Me!" said Hermione. "Books! And cleverness! There are more important things - friendship and bravery and - oh Harry - be careful!"

Sophie squeezed Harry's hand in farewell. "Be OK, Harry."

Harry nodded and said, "You two drink first. You are sure which is which, aren't you?" He asked Hermione.

"Positive," she replied. Hermione picked up the bottle and drank from it before handing it to Sophie who copied her. The drink was glacial: it seemed to freeze Sophie's insides as she swallowed it and she shivered again.

"It's not poison?" asked Harry.

"No - but it's like ice," Hermione told him.

"Quick, go, before it wears off," said Harry.

"Good luck -"

"Take care-"

"GO!"

The two girls turned away and walked through the purple flames, leaving Harry alone. The flames felt warm, but not threateningly so, thought Sophie.

She and Hermione tore through the troll room and into the room with the chessboard. Ron was still unconscious on the floor.

"Oh, Ron, Ron, wake up," cried Hermione as the two girls knelt next to him. They shook him and slapped his face a bit to make him come round.

Eventually Ron's eyes flickered open. "Ohhh," he moaned, and put a hand to his head. 'What happened? Did we win? Where's Harry?"

"Yes, we won," said Sophie as she and Hermione helped Ron to his feet. "And we went on ahead, but we came to a point where only one of us could go on and Harry went and we're going to try and send a message to Dumbledore."

They helped Ron along; Sophie was worried about the pain in his head and thought he might have a concussion, but he seemed to be all right for now at least. They left the chess room and came to the room with the flying keys which were still fluttering away, explaining to Ron along the way what had happened after he had been knocked out.

"Harry thought we should fly up through the trapdoor," recounted Sophie

"Good idea," said Ron, steadying himself.

"Do you think you'll be OK on a broomstick, Ron?" asked Hermione.

"I think so," he said, and he did look like he had a grip on himself, so the three of them mounted the broomsticks they had left on the floor and flew through the dark passageway that led them back to the Devil's Snare.

"Glad we don't have to deal with that again," said Ron.

"Definitely," replied Hermione.

"Do you still have Harry's flute, Hermione?" asked Sophie. "We'll need it when we meet Fluffy again."

"Yes," said Hermione. "But maybe you'd better play it; I'd rather hold onto my broomstick with both hands." Hermione was not very comfortable on a broomstick, Sophie knew, so she took the flute and they flew up to the trapdoor opening.

Sophie put the flute to her lips and began to play. Unlike Harry and Hermione, Sophie's playing sounded more like a proper song rather than disconnected notes. They landed on the ground beyond Fluffy (who was sleeping soundly) and left their broomsticks on the ground. Taking the invisibility cloak they left the room and only then did Sophie stop playing the flute.

"Now to the owlery?" asked Ron.

"Yes," said Hermione and the three of them tore off, running at top speed through the corridors up to the owlery. They were just rounding the corner into the entrance hall when, much to their surprise, they found Professor Dumbledore striding towards them.

"Professor-" Sophie gasped, short of breath, but further explanation was rendered unnecessary when, taking one look at them, Professor Dumbledore asked,

"Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?"

Very much surprised, the three of them nodded, and, without another word, Dumbledore ran (with speed and agility that Sophie hadn't thought a man of his age could posses) in the direction of the third floor.

"What the-" asked Ron, staring after Dumbledore. "How did he know? It's almost like he meant for-"

"I know," said Sophie, also looking at the place Dumbledore had disappeared. "It almost seems that way." She turned to Ron and Hermione. "Ron, you should probably see Madam Pomfrey, just to make sure you're head's OK, and, oh-" she slapped herself on the forehead. "Neville! I'd better go take the curse off him, and Hermione, you can go with Ron to the hospital wing."

"I hope Harry's OK," said Hermione, anxiously.

"Yeah," agreed Ron. "But it looks like Dumbledore's going to him and he'll make sure Harry's all right."

"If anyone can sort it out, it would be Dumbledore," put in Sophie, and they went their separate ways.

**I apologize if it takes me longer than usual to update. I'm on vacation right now and my internet connection is really crappy, so I can only try my best. I hope you are all enjoying the story thus far! Please review if you are so inclined!**


	7. The Finishing Feast

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**The Finishing Feast**

Sophie stood anxiously outside the hospital wing with Ron and Hermione. "She'd better let us in," said Ron. His head had been deemed fine by Madam Pomfrey three days ago, but they had yet to see Harry and were now hoping against hope that the strict matron would allow them in to see him.

A moment later, the door opened and Madam Pomfrey poked her head out from the other side of it. "You may see him for _five minutes_," she said. "And that's all. _Do_ try not to excite him."

The three of them nodded fervently, promising to behave themselves, and Madam Pomfrey stepped aside and let them in.

They ran to Harry's bedside. He looked mostly all right, though had obviously been through quite the ordeal.

"You're OK!" cried Sophie.

"Harry! Oh, Harry, we were sure you were going to - Dumbledore was so worried -" Hermione's speech came in jumbled phrases.

"The whole school's talking about it. What _really_ happened?" Ron asked.

"Well, I walked through the black flames after drinking the right potion," Harry started. He looked at Ron. "You know about-"

"Yeah," said Ron, waving an impatient hand. "Hermione and Sophie've told me. Go on."

"And I walked into the next room and saw Quirrell there with the Mirror of Erised that Ron and I visited over the Christmas holiday," said Harry. "We were wrong all along: it wasn't Snape trying to steal the Stone for Voldemort," The other three flinched. "It was Quirrell."

"Do you have to say his name, Harry?" asked Sophie, for the use of that name made her, like most witches and wizards, intensely uncomfortable.

"Yes," said Harry seriously. "Dumbledore says it's the right thing to do. He said -what was it again? Oh, yeah, that 'fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.' So I'm going to call him Voldemort: he's frightening enough already without being scared of his name as well."

Sophie had never thought of things this way, Mum and Dad had always said it was wrong to use the name, but what Dumbledore said made sense. Still, Sophie thought she would never be able to bring herself to actually say the name aloud. "Oh, Well, please, keep going."

"Quirrell explained to me that he had been working for Voldemort all along, and that Snape had actually been trying to save me."

"But at the Quidditch match-" interjected Hermione.

"Quirrell was using an enchantment to try and knock me off my broom and Snape was muttering the counter-curse," explained Harry. "Everything we thought Snape had been doing was really Quirrell, and Snape has been trying to stop him and protect me."

Harry then explained how an eery voice had come out from underneath Quirrell's turban, "_Use the boy...use the boy_," and how, after seeing himself in the Mirror having the Stone, the actual Philosopher's Stone had materialized in his own pocket. The really shocking part, however, came afterwards:

"And then Quirrell turned around and unwrapped his turban," said Harry, his audience listening with rapt attention, "And underneath, on the back of his head, was another face. It was Voldemort's face."

Hermione screamed and Sophie's insides gave a sudden jolt. It was, quite possibly, one of the scariest things she had heard of in her life.

Harry finished the story, explaining how Quirrell had died in the struggle to get the Stone and how Dumbledore told him that, after talking with his friend Nicolas Flamel, they had decided to destroy the Stone.

There was stunned silents for several moments following this story. Finally, Ron spoke,

"So the Stone's gone. Flamel's just going to die."

"That's what I said," replied Harry. "But Dumbledore thinks that - what was it. - 'to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."

Ron, though looking impressed with Dumbledore, said, "I always said he was off his rocker."

"So what happened to you two?" Harry inquired.

Hermione explained what had happened after she and Sophie left Harry and went with Ron up to the entrance hall where they met Dumbledore.

Ron re-iterated Sophie's previous thought: "D'you think he meant you to do it? Sending you your father's cloak and everything?"

Hermione seemed very angry at this suggestion. "Well, if he did - I mean to say that's terrible - you could have been killed."

Harry said, "No, it isn't,"

"Don't you think so?" asked Sophie.

"No, I don't," said Harry. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could..."

Ron put in, "Yeah, Dumbledore's barking, all right. Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won, of course - you missed the last Quidditch match, we were steamrollered by Ravenclaw without you - but the food'll be good."

It was then that Madam Pomfrey came over and ordered Sophie, Hermione and Ron out. Bidding Harry goodbye, they left.

Sophie sat with Hermione and Ron at the Gryffindor table for the end-of-the-year feast. The Great Hall was decorated with the Slytherin colours of silver and green with a large banner behind the High Table bearing a serpent to represent that house. Everyone in the Hall kept shooting furtive glances at the three of them: they all knew they had been mixed up in some great adventure involving Harry Potter and Voldemort a few days ago and most people were very curious about this.

Suddenly the Hall fell silent, and Sophie looked round to see what had caused the hush: harry had appeared in the doorway of the Hall. The silence was short-lived and everyone soon started talking very loudly and everyone's eyes followed Harry as he came over to Sophie, Ron and Hermione and sat down with them. He, like his friends, was trying to ignore all the unwanted attention.

Dumbledore stood up at the High Table. The Headmaster spoke:

"Another year gone! And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were... you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts...

"Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with two hundred and sixty-two points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy- two." The Slytherins roared with jubilation at this pronouncement, Draco Malfoy celebrating with the rest of his house. Sophie applauded quietly and politely, though she was one of the few that did.

Dumbledore continued on, "Yes, Yes, well done, Slytherin. However, recent events must be taken into account. Ahem. I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes...First - to Mr. Ronald Weasley..."

All eyes in the Hall turned to Ron who turned what Sophie considered an interesting violet colour.

"...for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points." The Gryffindors all cheered and Harry, Sophie and Hermione grinned at Ron.

"Second - to Miss Hermione Granger..." Dumbledore went on, "For the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points." Hermione put her head down on her arms and Sophie could hear her sobbing. "Well done, Hermione!" she yelled over the din the Gryffindors had raised.

"Third, to Miss Sophronia Tonks," now it was Sophie's turn to blush as all the eyes in the Hall turned to her. "For quick-thinking and fast action when her friends needed her aid, I award Gryffindor house fifty points." Sophie looked down at her hands in her lap as all the Gryffindors yelled and cheered: they had now almost tied for second place -a respectable standing.

Dumbledore spoke again, "Fourth - to Mr. Harry Potter...for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points." The resulting noise was enough to split an eardrum: Gryffindor had now tied with Slytherin for first place.

Silence was only restored when Dumbledore raised a hand, smiling.

"There are all kinds of courage," He said. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom." Nearly every single Gryffindor now leapt to his feet to yell and cheer and hug Neville who looked as though he was in shock.

Dumbledore managed to make himself heard over the din of cheers and applause: "Which means we need a little change of decoration," Clapping his hands together, the Slytherin decorations turned to the scarlet and gold ones of Gryffindor house, a lion replacing the serpent. Gryffindor had won the House Cup, all thanks to the Boy Who Lived and four of his fellow first years.

Sophie was deliriously happy. It had, she reflected, been the most insane and unexpected year and was very glad that it had ended on such a good note. Next year, she was sure, would be much quieter: no monsters, no You Know Who, no perilous dangers...


	8. Letters and a Lack Thereof

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. No profit is being made and no copyright infringement is intended. _

**Letters and the Lack Thereof**

_Dear Harry_,

_I hope you are well. This is the fifth letter I've written to you and so far you haven't responded. Alazne has never mis-delivered a letter before, so I think you must have received my letters. I've been writing to Ron and Hermione as well and neither of them have heard from you either. I don't think you would ignore us on purpose, so maybe you're just a lazy letter-writer (I mean that in the kindest way possible)._

_But if that's the case, Harry, please pull yourself together and write us back. We miss you and want to know that you're OK._

Sophie paused in her letter-writing, absently tapping her quill on her chin as she considered what to write next. She was sitting at her desk in her room, the half-finished letter to Harry before her next to a stack of letters she'd received from Ron and Hermione so far this summer. Lying next to the letter she was working on was one with messy handwriting. She picked it up and re-read a passage:

_Fred and George and I have decided we're going to try and rescue Harry from the Muggles; I know something must be wrong, Harry wouldn't ignore all of us for this long._

_Wish us luck,_

_Ron_

Sophie had been somewhat skeptical about how Ron and his mischievous twin brothers would go about rescuing Harry and hoped they wouldn't try anything stupid. 

There was a knock on her door. "Come in," Sophie called.

Dora entered the room, her hair short and pink. "You're in a good mood," observed Sophie. Dora usually turned her hair a bubblegum pink colour whenever she felt good; it was her favourite hairstyle.

"Glad a certain unpleasant person is now a memory," replied Dora mischievously, standing in the doorway.

"Oh, yeah," said Sophie. Dora had recently broken up with her boyfriend and didn't seem at all sorry, to put it mildly. "Remind me again, what was wrong with him?"

"Immature," said Dora, strolling over to Sophie's mirror and examining her reflection. "Oops," she accidentally knocked over a stack of magazines that were sitting on Sophie's nightstand. "Sorry, Sophie." And with a wave of her wand she replaced the fallen magazines, though not as neatly as Sophie had had them stacked previously. Glancing down at one copy of _Witch Weekly_ that featured a heavily-pierced witch on the cover. "Who's this?"

"New singer," Sophie shrugged. "I heard some of her songs on the WWN, but I still prefer the Weird Sisters. Doesn't her nose look great, though?"

Dora looked amused. "What's so great about it? The nose stud?"

"Yeah," said Sophie. "Don't you think so?"

"Sure," Dora replied. She studied Sophie. "You'd look good with your nose pierced."

"Really?"

"Yeah, maybe when you're older you can get it done."

"Oh," said Sophie. "Well, did you come in here for any particular reason?"

"Just to tell you that Mrs. Perks came by earlier and mentioned that Sally-Anne might come over soon to see you."

Sophie groaned. Sally-Anne had been trying to talk to Sophie about what had happened at the end of last year all summer and Sophie, not wanting to be interrogated about it all, had so far been doing her best to avoid Sally-Anne. She supposed her efforts were futile: she would have to spend the whole of the next school year in the same dormitory and classes with Sally-Anne, but at least then she would have Hermione with her.

"She's not that bad," said Dora.

"You're not the one they always make spend time with her," retorted Sophie.

"Are you writing to Harry Potter?" Dora asked, suddenly noticing the letter Sophie was writing.

"Yes," said Sophie. "But he hasn't written me back yet. "Hermione and Ron haven't heard from him, either."

"That's so strange, he seemed so nice from the way you described him," said Dora. She had been very excited to learn that Sophie was on good terms with the famous Harry Potter and had made Sophie speak at length about the legendary boy. Sophie had skated over the Philosopher's Stone issue with her parents as much as possible: she didn't want them to worry about her or think that Hogwarts wasn't safe, but she had told Dora the most about their adventures because she was the most enthusiastic and also because Sophie knew she wouldn't blab.

"Yeah," said Sophie, standing up from her desk. "Well, thanks for telling me about Sally-Anne." She didn't really feel like discussing Harry's lack of a response right now.

Dora left and went to her own bedroom while Sophie went downstairs. Her father was sitting on a sofa in the sitting room, reading the _Daily Prophet_. "All right there, Sophie?"

"Yeah," she said, sitting down in a chair across the room. "Just writing letters."

"Harry Potter hasn't written back yet, has he?" Mr. Tonks asked.

Sophie shook her head. "No, but Ron wrote and said that he and his brothers would try and get Harry, so I should hear something soon."

Mr. Tonks raised an eyebrow. "You don't think he just doesn't want to write you and your friends back?"

Sophie shook her head. "No, Dad. He really was -_is-_ our friend. I know it. He's a really decent person."

"All right," Mr. Tonks said, though he didn't look entirely convinced. At that moment Mrs. Tonks joined them in the sitting room.

"Sophronia, Sally-Anne is at the back door, she wants to see you."

Sophie groaned. "Right now?"

"Sophronia, she's standing there waiting for you!" Mrs. Tonks replied.

"Oh, fine," Sophie conceded and she stood up and went to face Sally-Anne.

As she was leaving the sitting room her mother said to her, "Remember to be _nice_ to her, Sophronia."

"I'm always nice to her," returned Sophie. "I just don't put a lot of stock in her, that's all."

As she went out the door frame she heard her father say, "Well, she certainly puts a lot of stock in that Potter boy."

Smiling to herself, Sophie met Sally-Anne by the back door.

"Look, Sally-Anne," Sophie started, without any preamble, "I know you're really curious about what happened at the end of last year, but I just don't want to talk about it it, OK? It's seriously complicated and long-winded and it's not the sort of thing you run around saying."

Sally-Anne looked rather taken aback. "Sorry," Sophie finished, somewhat lamely.

"Ummm...Actually I didn't come to ask about that...it was just that an owl turned up at my place carrying a letter for you, I think it was pretty mixed-up."

_Errol!_ Thought Sophie. To Sally-Anne, she said. "That's Ron Weasley's family owl. Er...you don't have the letter with you, do you?"

Sally-Anne produced it. "And the owl recovered and I sent it off again, so I guess it went back to Ron's place."

"Thanks, Sally-Anne," said Sophie. "And, er, sorry for attacking you like that."

Sally-Anne shrugged. "No problem." And she left.

Sophie sat down at the kitchen table with Ron's letter. Opening it, she read

_Sophie-_

_Everything's fine. We've got Harry. The Muggles had him locked up, but he's OK. _-Sophie stared at this, but continued on-_ A house-elf had been stopping his letters, that's why he wasn't writing to back to _us_ -_Sophie was even more puzzled by this statement- _Hermione's written and said she's going to meet Harry and me in Diagon Alley next Wednesday. I know you said before that you already got your new schoolbooks and everything, so I guess we'll see you on the train in September._

_Ron_

Bemused, but greatly relieved all the same, Sophie took Ron's letter and ran up the stairs to finish her letter to Harry, greatly anticipating seeing her friends again at Hogwarts.

Sophie was not the only person frustrated by letter correspondence that summer. Lucius Malfoy had his own stack of letters to contend with. He rifled through the letters in disgust. He had always known Dumbledore had held contemptible pro-Muggle views, but this was one step too far.

Lucius glanced at the clock. They should be arriving any moment now. Sure enough, it was only a few seconds before the flames in the fireplace glowed green and a stooped figure emerged followed by a stringy-looking boy.

"Ah, Nott," said Lucius, striding forwards and grasping the old man's hand. "I am glad you could come."

"Certainly, Malfoy," returned the other. At that moment a boy with a pale pointed face entered the room.

"Hello, Draco," said the stringy boy.

Draco nodded. "Hullo, Theodore."

The two boys eventually wandered out into the expansive gardens of Malfoy Manor while their fathers remained indoors to talk.

"I always knew Dumbledore was a ridiculous, Muggle-loving fool," said Nott.

"Of course, I did as well," returned Lucius. "That was always apparent to me and none could mistake the reason for the animosity between him and the Dark Lord. Dumbledore has never had any proper wizard feeling, the way he defends filth the likes of Mudbloods." Lucius held up a letter in his hand. "He wrote this letter to me when I solicited the removal of that despicable Beedle story, _The Fountain of Fair Fortune. _He completely rebuffed me and refused to remove the story, even after I sent several further letters of protest." Lucius indicated a long spread of letters that lay before Nott and himself on the table.

"What was wrong with the story?" inquired Nott.

"It was an appalling: it promoted marriage between wizards and Muggles," said Lucius, his lip curling with disgust as the very thought crossed his mind. "It was certainly not something I would ever want Draco to be exposed to."

"No, nor would I want Theodore to be," agreed Nott. He paused, then asked, "I have heard the Ministry has been conducting more and more raids recently, trying to weed out Dark items. You haven't been troubled, have you?"

"Not yet," replied Lucius. "But there aren't many lengths I would be surprised to see that blood traitor Arthur Weasley go to. He's in the same abhorrent line of thinking as Dumbledore about Muggles."

"So I've heard," said Nott. "You have plans to protect your items, I presume?"

"Naturally," Lucius returned. "I have spoken to Cissy and we have agreed certain items will be better off being sold to Borgin and Burke's . However...there is one _particular_ item that you might recall..."

Lucius produced a small black book. "The Dark Lord gave this diary to me shortly before his fall," he told Nott. "You remember?"

Nott nodded, his eyes fixed on the diary. "What is it, exactly?"

"It is most cunningly enchanted, he told me, to open Slytherin's Chamber at Hogwarts."

"The Chamber of Secrets!"

Lucius nodded.

"Certainly, it would be disastrous if the Ministry were to discover _that_ in your possession," Lucius could see that Nott was envious that the Dark Lord had shared one of his treasures with Lucius and not with him and was trying to disparage the little book. But Lucius understood his point.

"Yes, but do not think I would ever sell _this_ to Borgin and Burke's. I personally think it is high time this book was put to its proper use."

"You are going to pass the book to a student so that the Chamber will be opened?" Nott asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Yes," replied Lucius. "It would relieve me of the responsibility of trying to conceal it, and when the rest of the school governors see that Dumbledore cannot even prevent Mudbloods from being attacked under his own nose, then he will certainly be removed from the post of Headmaster."

"But, Malfoy," began Nott, "Were those the Dark Lord's instructions to you concerning this book?"

Lucius brushed this aside. "I was told to put it to use when he gave me the order to, but as he is so long gone -dead, I believe- then it can only be prudent for me to carry out the plan like this. All that need be done is to find a way top plant the diary on an unsuspecting student and the rest of the plan will take care of itself."

Nott nodded. "It's well thought out, I must admit." His wrinkled face broke into a grin. "Not the least because, if all goes well, at least a few Mudbloods will be killed, won't they, Malfoy?"

"If all goes well," agreed Lucius.


	9. Lily and Tracey

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**Lily and Tracey**

"Where _are_ they?" Sophie wondered aloud to Hermione as they lugged their trunks down the Hogwarts Express which was slowly picking up speed as it left Platform 9 3/4.

Hermione looked worried. "I don't know. They were both fine when I saw them in Diagon Alley. Why do we seem to keep losing Harry?"

Sophie shrugged. "This time he's taken Ron with him, it looks like. Hang on..." She stopped outside one of the compartments and slid it open. Identical red-headed boys stood there, hoisting a small red-headed girl's trunk up onto a rack.

"Hi Sophie," said George Weasley, one of the twin boys. "Hi, Hermione."

"Hi," returned Sophie. "Look, have any of you seen Ron or Harry?"

Fred shrugged. "Not since we arrived at King's Cross. I'm sure they're around here somewhere."

"OK. Hey-" Sophie looked at the little girl. "You're Ginny, right?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah."

"I'm Hermione Granger and this is Sophie Tonks," said Hermione. "It's nice meeting you."

Sophie nodded and smiled at Ginny. "Well, if any of you see Ron or Harry, let us know."

Sophie and Hermione continued on, keeping their eyes peeled for any of sigh of their two friends.

"Let's just sit down," suggested Hermione, obviously tired from the effort of lugging her trunk so far. "I'm sure Harry and Ron will turn up soon."

"Fine," agreed Sophie. They approached a compartment occupied by two girls. Sophie vaguely remembered them from Potions class the year previous. She opened the door.

"Hello," Sophie gestured to the two seats opposite the girls. 'Do you mind if we sit here?"

"Not at all," said one of the girls. She had long, straight strawberry blonde hair with deep, beautiful eyes that were an intriguing dark shade of hazel.

"Thanks," said Sophie and Hermione, lifting their luggage onto the racks above before sitting down.

"I'm Sophie Tonks and this is my friend, Hermione Granger," said Sophie, taking the seat nearest the window. "And I think I remember the two of you from last year."

The strawberry blonde girl nodded. "My name is Lily Moon and this is Tracey Davis." She indicated the bespectacled girl next to her who had shoulder-length dark blonde hair and hazel eyes with a rather round face. "We're in Slytherin, so we had our Potions lessons together."

"You two are friends with Harry Potter, right?" asked Tracey Davis.

"Yes, we are," Hermione replied.

Tracey leaned forwards as though not wanting to be overheard. "So...so, is it true? You know, that he met You Know Who again at the end of last year and that's what Dumbledore have him all the points for?"

Sophie and Hermione glanced at each other. Neither of them wanted to spread this around too much, but everyone seemed already to know the essence of what had happened.

"Yes," said Sophie.

"Wow!" breathed Lily.

"That's amazing!" said Tracey, awestruck.

"Yeah, Harry is," replied Sophie.

The compartment door opened. To Sophie's dismay Draco Malfoy and his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle were standing in the doorway.

"Where's Potter?" asked Malfoy.

"Why do you care, Malfoy?" Sophie asked him.

Malfoy sneered. "I _don't_, Tonks. But I would have thought you and Granger would care what happened to your precious Potter and Weasley. They're not in any of the compartments on the train before this one."

"How thoughtful of you, to run all over the train looking for them," said Sophie sarcastically.

"We know that, we already checked," Hermione told him.

"Do you have anything else to say, Draco?" asked Lily.

Malfoy did not look satisfied, but turned anyways and left, followed by Crabbe and Goyle.

The trolley witch arrived shortly thereafter and the girls bought sweets. While eating their discussion turned to Quidditch teams, then to the latest Weird Sister songs and how they compared with those of other artists on the WWN. Both Lily and Tracey, Sophie discovered, had wizarding parents, so it became slightly difficult to continue their discussions in a way that did not exclude Hermione (who explained to Lily and Tracey that she was Muggle-born), but both Lily and Tracey were very accommodating and were quick to help explain something to Hermione whenever a subject came up that she was unfamiliar with. Sophie found Lily and Tracey very likable, easygoing and friendly and the four gils shared a few good laughs as they devoured their sweets.

'Oh," said Hermione, eventually, glancing towards the window, then at her watch. "We must be nearly there -we'd better get our robes on."

The four girls were pulling on their black Hogwarts robes while the train slowed down and finally lurched to a stop. They left their compartment and descended the steps to the platform.

"Do you see Harry or Ron?" asked Hermione, craning her neck as she looked around.

Sophie also performed a visual search. "No, we'll probably meet them in the Great Hall."

"How're we getting to the school?" asked Tracey. "The boats last year were just for first years."

"We take carriages that pull themselves," said Sophie. "My sister told me."

Sophie, Hermione, Lily and Tracey followed the crowd of students to a line of carriages which seemed to be, as Dora had said, pulling themselves. They approached one of these and started to get inside when a shout made them look round.

"Tracey! Lily! What're you doing?"

A dark-haireed, hard-faced girl was hurrying towards them. Sophie recognized Pansy Parkinson, another Slytherin girl in their year.

"Where do the two of you think you're going?" Pansy addressed Lily and Tracey.

"To school, Pansy, same as you," returned Lily.

"And you're going to sit with _her_?" Pansy asked, rudely indicating Hermione.

"Yes," said Lily, simply.

Pansy looked at Tracey. "_You'll_ sit with Daphne and me, won't you, Tracey? We've got space." Daphne Greengrass was Pansy's best friend.

Tracey glanced at Sophie, Hermione and Lily, then quickly looked down at her feet. "Sure," she said quietly, leaving the other three and following a smug-looking Pansy to a different carriage.

Bemused, Sophie, Hermione and Lily sat down in their own carriage and set off to the castle. Sophie cast a questioning look at Lily.

Lily sighed. "Tracey can be very a very nice girl, like you saw on the train. But Pansy often bullies her into being a part of her gang and doing whatever Pansy tells her. I've tried telling her to stand up to Pansy, but..." she shrugged her shoulders.

They arrived at Hogwarts shortly. Sophie, Hermione and Lily walked up the front steps together and into the Entrance hall. They followed the crowd of students into the Great Hall, chatting as they went.

"See you later," said Sophie to Lily once they reached the Great Hall and Lily went o join the Slytherin table.

"Do you see them?" Sophie asked Hermione as they sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"No," said Hermione, looking around worriedly. Both girls craned their necks as they looked down the seats of their house table. "Something must have happened to them!"

Sophie looked up at the High Table and noticed a teacher missing.

"Hey...Snape's not here, either. Maybe Dumbledore sent him to find them?"

Hermione shrugged. "Maybe..."

At that moment Professor McGonagall came into the Great hall followed by several dozen first years. She brought them up to a stool at the forefront of the Hall upon which the old frayed Sorting hat was sitting.

Although Sophie was quite preoccupied by the conspicuous absence of her two friends, she vaguely registered that it would be interesting to watch the Sorting Ceremony from this angle, as a viewer rather than a participant. The hall kept its eyes fixed on the Hat and after a moment or two a rip in the brim opened wide and the Hat sang:

_It is my part to sort the students_

_At this renowned Hogwarts School._

_Every year it is the same:_

_New students sitting on the stool._

_Waiting for me to declare_

_Which house to which they will belong_

_But first, by way of introduction,_

_I will sing this explanatory song. _

_It all happened quite some time ago_

_When good friends Slytherin and Gryffindor,_

_Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw fashioned_

_After themselves these houses four:_

_Slytherin house will only admit_

_Those of great and shrewd ambition_

_The cunning and the serpent-sly,_

_Whose plans will grow to fruition._

_Gryffindor, on the other hand,_

_Is for the noble and the brave_

_Those, who like the lion will_

_Use the daring they were gave._

_Those in Hufflepuff will always be_

_Forever decent, just and fair_

_Loyal as any badger_

_And diligent of every care._

_The house of Ravenclaw is for_

_The intelligent and wise,_

_For those with minds of eagles,_

_The witty and sharp: here they rise._

_So one need only slip me_

_Onto his head, and I will say_

_Which of these houses suits him,_

_Into which he will go and stay!_

Thew Great Hall applauded as the Hat concluded its song. Professor McGonagall unrolled a scroll and began to read names off it.

"Bundy, Kenneth."

"SLYTHERIN!" cried the Hat.

"Capper, Silvanus."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Creevey, Colin."

A mousy-haired boy had the Hat placed on his head. After a moment or two, the Hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Sophie clapped with the rest of the Gryffindors as Colin joined their table.

"Sophie! Hermione!"

They looked down the table a little ways. Sally-Anne Perks had gotten their attention.

"Where're Harry and Ron?" she asked them

"No idea," replied Sophie as "Dorny, Julianna" became a Slytherin and passed the Hat to "Dunstan, Barnabas."

Some of their fellow Gryffindor second years also looked a bit concerned that neither Harry nor Ron had been seen. Percy, Fred and George also looked worried. Sophie caught George's eye who shrugged in response to her questioning look.

"Lovegood, Luna."

"RAVENCLAW!"

Sophie looked again at the High Table. Surely Dumbledore knew that Harry and Ron were missing? Was that really why Snape was absent, to find them? Professor McGonagall went down the list of students, finally coming to the last few.

"Weasley, Ginevra."

The small, redheaded girl came forwards and placed the Sorting Hat on her head. Percy and the Weasley twins leaned forwards anxiously. the Weasleys had all so far been in Gryffindor and Sophie knew they were hoping that Ginny, their last member, would be too. Sophie couldn't help feeling sorry for Ginny. She thought the notion of one having to be in the same house as all one's family members was silly.

"GRYFFINDOR!" proclaimed the Hat. Sophie clapped along with the rest of the Gryffindors (the Weasleys were particularly enthused) as Ginny joined their table.

The Sorting Ceremony concluded momentarily and Professor McGonagall carried the Hat and stool out of the Hall. Professor Dumbledore stood up.

"Welcome!" he said, addressing the students. "And welcome back! I have no wish to delay for you what I am sure will be an excellent feast, so _tuck in_!"

The start of term appeared on the golden plates in front of them following these words. Surprisingly, however, Dumbledore did not resume his seat for the feast, but instead left the Great Hall, which was a cause for some murmuring amongst the students. Professor McGonagall too had not returned.

Sophie and Hermione were forced to endure the rest of the feast still with no knowledge of their friends' whereabouts. Sophie normally enjoyed Hogwarts feasts -despite the fact that she didn't eat many of the dishes served- but for some reason she wasn't very hungry and had to force down her mashed potatoes, so anxious was she about Harry and Ron. Hermione too seemed too anxious to eat much. During dessert, however, Professors Dumbledore and Snape returned, followed a few minutes later by Professor McGonagall. As Snape swept past the Slytherin table Sophie saw Draco Malfoy turn towards him and ask him something. Snape responded then swept on. Malfoy looked gleeful about something, which Sophie felt could mean nothing good.

"D'you suppose they've found out what happened to Ron and Harry?" Sophie muttered to Hermione who had also followed the teachers with her eyes as they entered the Great Hall.

"Well, obviously Dumbledore can't be too worried," said Hermione. "But then where _are_ they?"

Soon the plates before them cleared and Dumbledore sent the students off to bed.

"Wattlebird," said Sally-Anne Perks to Sophie as the students all began to clear out of the Great Hall.

"Sorry?" asked Sophie.

"The password," amended Sally-Anne. "For Gryffindor Tower. A prefect told me."

"Oh -right, thanks."

Sophie and Hermione left the Hall along with the black mass of students when they heard someone calling them.

"Sophie? Hermione?" They turned and saw Lily Moon making her way towards them and hung back so that she could reach them.

"Have you heard?" she asked them.

"Heard what?"

"Apparently Draco Malfoy asked Snape where Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were and they're saying he said they were expelled for crashing a flying Muggle car."

"_What?_" exclaimed Sophie.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I don't know where they are, but I'm sure they aren't stupid enough to do _that_. Malfoy probably made the whole thing up."

Lily shrugged. "I hope so, but he's told all The Slytherins and the whole school's probably heard by now."

"Lily?" Tracey Davis had reappeared. The Entrance Hall was almost totally empty now. "Oh-" she stopped short seeing Sophie and Hermione. "Hi," she said awkwardly, adjusting her glasses and looking down.

"Hi," said Sophie and Hermione.

"Well, we'd better go before Filch finds us," said Lily. "I doubt they've been expelled."

"Yeah..." said Tracey. "I hope they're both OK."

"I'm sure they are, it's just Malfoy making up stupid things," said Lily, and the four of them bade each pother goodnight.

"They had better not be expelled," said Sophie to Hermione as they ran up several flights of stairs to Gryffindor Tower. As they rounded the corner of the corridor that led to Gryffindor Tower, Sophie and Hermione saw two boys standing before the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Harry! Ron!" Sophie called as she and Hermione charged toward their two friends.

"_There_ you are!" Hermione said as they reached them. "_Where_ have you _been_? The most _ridiculous_ rumours -someone said you'd been expelled for crashing a flying _car_."

"Well, we haven't been expelled," said Harry. "Hi Sophie!"

"Hi," said Sophie, somewhat bemused, but glad all the same. She couldn't keep herself from grinning at the sight of the two of them

"You're not telling me you did fly here." Hermione was not grinning at all.

"Skip the lecture and tell us the new password," said Ron

"Wattlebird," said Sophie, and the Fat Lady's portrait swung open.

"But that's not the point - " Hermione's sentence was cut off as they climbed through the portrait hole because Harry and Ron's appearance in the common room was greeted by thunderous applause. It was evident that Lily had been correct in predicting that the whole school would have heard of Harry and Ron's unorthodox arrival. All around people were cheering and patting Harry and Ron on the back. Sophie thought it was all a bit over-the-top, she was just glad her freinds were safe, but Hermione looked downright disapproving.

Ron and Harry soon shook over their congratulators and went up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. "'Night," Harry called to Sophie and Hermione.

"G'night, Harry," Sophie called back. Hermione made a _hmmph_ sound and pulled on Sophie's arm, leading her up the girls' staircase.

"They should _not_ have done that," Hermione said to Sophie, once in their dormitory.

"I know," said Sophie, pulling off her robes and putting her pajamas on. "We'll get the full story from them tomorrow morning. Right now I'm just glad they're OK." And drawing the curtains round her four-poster bed, Sophie lay down and soon drifted off into sleep.


	10. Slugs and Blood

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**Slugs and Blood**

_Dear Mum and Dad, September 7, 1992_

_I hope you and Dora are well. The first week here went fairly well. They're letting us handle much more dangerous and exciting plants in Herbology. On Monday we did Mandrakes which Hermione says can return cursed people to their proper condition. Do you use Mandrakes a lot at St. Mungo's, Dad? Defence Against the Dark Arts isn't half so exciting. You know we have that author, Lockhart, teaching us now. Remember, Mum, how you said you don't use his books because he spends more time talking about himself than anything useful? Well, saying he's conceited would be a major understatement. They should re-name the class, "Everything You Never Wanted To Know About Gilderoy Lockhart." I'm glad it's the weekend. Hermione, Harry, Ron and I are planning on visiting Hagrid._

_Love,_

_Sophie_

Sophie tied the letter to Alazne's leg and then watched briefly as the owl spread her handsome wings and left the Owlery tower, soaring into the early morning mist. Sophie made her way down many flights of stairs to the Great Hall, thinking over the last week. She had rolled her eyes at Harry and Ron's reason for flying the car to school, although she hadn't gone on about it to them the way Hermione wanted to because Ron had broken his wand when the car hit the Whomping Willow, a vicious tree on Hogwarts' grounds and had clumsily taped it back together. She couldn't imagine breaking her wand and felt quite sorry for Ron, even if it was his own fault. Harry had related a rather peculiar story to Hermione and herself that week as well: apparently a house-elf called Dobby had been stopping Harry's letters all summer and had shown up and gotten him in trouble with his relatives. It was all very strange, thought Sophie absently as she entered the Great Hall. Spotting Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table she went and sat with them.

"Where's Harry?" she asked.

"Quidditch practice," said Ron. "He left me a note."

"Wood must be pretty keen to get them starting this early," observed Sophie, taking some toast.

"We know, we thought we might take some breakfast and go out to the pitch to see if he's about finished," said Hermione.

Sophie agreed so the three of them gathered up some toast and marmalade and together walked out to the Quidditch pitch. When they reached it they found it was deserted.

"They must be finished and getting changed," said Ron. "We can wait in the stands."

"They climbed up into the stands, munching toast. Nearby Colin Creevey, who was also in the stands, was fiddling with his camera. He had something of an obsession with Harry that Sophie hoped, for Harry's sake, would curb with time.

Before long seven scarlet-clad figures emerged from the changing room, each carrying a broomstick.

"Why haven't they changed?" wondered Hermione.

"Aren't you finished yet?" Ron called down to Harry.

Harry replied, "Haven't even started. Wood's been teaching us new moves."

Sophie sighed. "Well, I guess we can watch them practice, then go down to Hagrid's when they're finished."

As soon as Harry was off the ground Colin began snapping pictures. It was such an annoying noise that Sophie couldn't help hoping that he would soon run out of film. Sophie did, however, enjoy watching Harry fly. He was so skilled at it. Last year, when she'd seen him fly for the first time she'd found it difficult to believe that he'd never been on a broom before. Sophie wasn't a bad flier herself but wasn't particularly fond of heights.

"What're the Slytherins doing here?" asked Ron suddenly.

Sophie took her eyes off Harry and looked at the ground. Seven boys garbed in green robes all carrying broomsticks had suddenly appeared on the pitch. Sophie, Hermione and Ron watched as, one by one, the Gryffindor players landed on the ground and met the Slytherins. The two teams seemed to be discussing something.

"Let's go see what's happening," said Hermione. She, Sophie and Ron got up and went down to the pitch, crossing the grass to meet the huddle of Quidditch players. As they approached them, Sophie caught a glimpse of the white-blond head of Draco Malfoy among the Slytherin players. Great.

"What's happening? Why aren't you playing?" Ron was talking to Harry. He noticed Malfoy. "And what's _he_ doing here?"

Malfoy smirked. "I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley. Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team."

Ron's mouth opened in shock as he took in the Slytherin's broomsticks. Sophie recognized them as the latest Nimbus model but didn't want to give her cousin any satisfaction and so kept her face looking thoroughly unimpressed.

"Good, aren't they?" drawled Malfoy. "But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get some new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives, I expect a museum would bid for them."

The Slytherins laughed as though they had never heard anuything funnier. Hermione spoke over them:

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to _buy_ their way. _They_ got in on pure talent."

Malfoy was clearly angered by this. "No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood."

The Gryffindors raised an uproar. Sophie meant to kick Malfoy, but the Slytherin team Captain had leaped in front of malfoy to protect him, so Sophie settled for bashing her foot with as much force as she could muster in Flint's shin. He winced in pain and Ron was able to get his wand around him to pint it at Malfoy, shouting, "You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!"

Suddenly, Ron's wand emitted a loud noise and a green light shot out the wrong end of it towards Ron. The light hit him hard in the stomach and he fell backwards. Sophie grabbed him just in time to prevent him from landing hard on the ground. She let go of him as he steadied himself into a sitting position on the ground. He looked terrible.

"Ron! Ron! Are you all right?" Hermione asked.

Ron burped loudly and brought up three slugs which landed in his lap.

The Gryffindors gathered around Ron, all concerned, none wanting to touch him, while the Slytherin team howled with mirth.

Harry looked at Sophie and Hermione. "We'd better get him to Hagrid's, it's nearest." The three of them helped Ron up and Harry brushed Colin Creevey off who had just run up and started talking a mile a minute. Harry found Colin just as bothersome, probably more so, than Sophie did.

Sophie, Hermione and Harry supported ROn, who continued to produce slugs, all the way to Hagrid's cabin. They narrowly avoided having a run-in with Professor Lockhart just outside of it and they could see that Hagrid was quite disgruntled with their new teacher. Hagrid told them of his disapproval of Lockhart before asking about Ron's situation, which he did not seem to mind and had merely given Ron a basin.

"...So tell me," said Hagrid, jerking his head at Ron, "who was he trying' ter curse?"

"Malfoy called Hermione something. It must've been really bad, because everyone went mad," said Harry.

"It _was _bad," Ron said, but didn't get any further as he was besieged by a fresh wave of slugs.

"Malfoy called her 'Mudblood,' Hagrid," said Sophie. She knew Hagrid would understand the injustice of the situation, and he definitely did, judging bu his expression. He looked at Hermione.

"He didn'!"

"He did. But I don't know what it means," Hermione said, simply. "I could tell it was really rude, of course..."

"It's the rudest thing he could have said. Mudblood's what people like Malfoy who come from families that call themselves pure-blood call Muggle-born witches and wizards. They think witches and wizards are better than Muggles and don't think anyone with Muggle heritage is really a proper witch or wizard. My mum's family were like that and they disowned her when she married my dad because he's Muggle-born. The rest of us who've got our heads on straight know it doesn't make any difference at all," Sophie said.

"Sophie's right," Ron had stopped burping up slugs for the moment. "Look at Neville Longbottom -he's pure-blood and he can hardly stand a cauldron the right way up."

"An' they haven't invented a spell our Hermione can't do," Hagrid put in.

Ron explained, "It's a disgusting thing to call someone. Dirty blood, see. Common blood."

"Tainted blood," put in Sophie. Ron nodded.

"It's mad. Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway. If we hadn't married Muggles we'd've died out." Ron barely stopped speaking before he was burping up more slugs.

"Well, I don' blame yeh fer tryin' ter curse him, Ron. Bu' maybe it was a good thing yer wand backfired," said Hagrid. " 'Spect Lucius Malfoy would've come marching up ter school if yeh'd cursed his son. Least yer not in trouble."

"I call that trouble," said Sophie, gesturing towards Ron, his face greenish and his hands grasping the edges of the basin shakily.

The weeks rolled by and before Sophie knew it, Halloween had come. It was, Sophie reflected, one whole year now that she had been friends with Harry and Ron. She thoroughly enjoyed having them for friends, but on occasion their friendship meant she had to do something she preferred not to. So it was this Halloween: Harry had promised Nearly Headless Nick, the ghost of Gryffindor Tower, that they would attend his Deathday party instead of attending the usual Halloween feast. To say the Deathday party was gloomy would be an understatement, with rotting food, headless horsemen and Moaning Myrtle, the ghost of a girl who haunted one of the bathrooms. Sophie was not at all sorry when Hermione, Harry and Ron agreed they should leave.

"Pudding might not be finished yet," Ron pointed out.

"I hope not," said Sophie, following behind him.

Suddenly Harry stopped walking behind them. They turned to look at him and saw that he was staring wide-eyed all around while holding onto the wall.

Ron asked, "Harry, what're you-?"

Harry shushed him. "It's that voice again-shut up a minute-"

Voice? Sophie looked at Ron who merely shrugged.

"Listen!" Harry sounded panicked. Sophie tried to listen as hard as she could, but couldn't hear any strange voice.

Without warning, Harry started to run. He yelled, "This way!" and the other three ran to keep up with him. They followed him into the Entrance Hall and up one flight of stairs.

Hermione asked, "Harry, what are we-"

"SHH!" Harry seemed to be listening intently.

Sophie looked in confusion at Ron and Hermione, neither of whom seemed to be able to hear anything unusual any more than she could.

"It's going to kill someone!" Harry tore off up the next flight of stairs, Sophie, Ron and Hermione in hot pursuit. He didn't stop running at the top of the stairs, but sprinted around the whole floor until they came to the last corridor.

"Harry...Harry," Sophie was out of breath. "This is mad. What on earth are you doing?"

"I couldn't hear anything," Ron added. But Hermione gasped.

"_Look!_"

She pointed down the hallway at something glistening on the wall. As they came closer they could make out this message:

_THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED._

_ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE._

Ron spoke, "What's that thing hanging underneath?"

Sophie looked and recognized the object at once. "It's Mrs. Norris!" Mrs. Norris was Filch's cat and appeared to be dead, she was stiff and hanging from the torch bracket.

"Let's get out of here." Ron's voice was very decided and sure. Harry seemed less certain.

"Shouldn't we try and help-"

"Trust me," Ron said, turning. As he did so he almost slipped in a puddle of water. "We don't want to be found here."

Sophie turned, careful to avoid the water, but saw that it was too late. The feast had obviously ended and students were coming up the stairs and filed into the corridor around them. They were stuck.

"Enemies of the heir, beware!" Draco Malfoy shouted. "You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

Just then, Filch, having heard the commotion came through the crowd. "What's going on here?" he asked. "What's going on?"

No one knew how to answer him, but soon his eyes met with the sight of the immobile cat.

Filch was horrified. "My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris! _You_!" He was looking at Harry. "_You_!" He was a terrifying sight. "Ypu've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll-"

He was interrupted by the timely arrival of Albus Dumbledore.

"_Argus_!" said Dumbledore. Numerous teachers followed him as he approached the wall and removed Mrs. Norris from her hanging position. "Come with me, Argus. You too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Tonks, Miss Granger."

Dumbledore, Filch, McGonagall, Snape and Lockhart (who had volunteered his office for usage) went with Sophie, Hermione, Harry and Ron where Dumbledore carefully examined Mrs. Norris. Eventually Dumbledore spoke to Filch.

"She's not dead, Argus."

Filch, who had been sobbing, paused. "Not dead? But why's she all - all stiff and frozen?"

"She has been Petrified. But how, I cannot say..."

Filch was still utterly convinced that Harry was the guilty party, and he was subtly supported by Snape who also wanted Harry punished. However McGonagall pointed out, and Dumbledore agreed, that there was no evidence that Harry had behaved amiss. This did not sit well with Filch.

"My cat has been Petrified! I want to see some _punishment_!"

Dumbledore said, "We will be able to cure her, Argus. Madam Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made which will revive Mrs. Norris."

Sophie, Hermione, Harry and Ron were allowed to leave soon afterwards. They speed-walked up to the next floor and into an unused, dark classroom so as to talk in privacy.

Harry spoke first. "Do you think I should have told them about that voice I heard?"

"No," Sophie and Ron spoke in unison and Ron added, "Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world."

"You do believe me, don't you?"

"Yes," said Sophie. "I know you're not crazy or anything."

Ron knew it too. "Course I do. But -you must admit it's weird..."

"I know it's weird. The whole thing's weird," said Harry. "What was that writing on the wall about? '_The Chamber has been opened'_...what's that supposed to mean?"

"You know, it rings a sort of bell. I think someone told me a story about a secret chamber at Hogwarts once...might've been Bill..." said Ron.

"Remember what Malfoy said?" asked Sophie. " _'You'll be next-'_ " She didn't like saying the word "mudblood." "He thinks this 'heir' person will Petrify Muggle-borns next?"

"I remember..." Hermione said, speaking at last..."I think there may have been something in _Hogwarts, A History_ about the legend of the Chamber of Secrets..."

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"I can't remember!" said Hermione. "And my copy is at home, I couldn't fit it in with my Lockhart books..."

The next morning Sophie rose very early and shot off likme a cannon before breakfast to the library almost before anyone else was awake. It was a very Hermione thing to do, but Sophie was determined to get her hands on a copy before they were all taken out and she was better at getting up early than Hermione was.

She located _Hogwarts, A History_, checked it out under the suspicious eye of Madam Pince, the librarian and placed it safely in her bag. Returning to her dormitory she opened the book to the index and found the pages she was looking for. Flipping to them, she read the following:

_THE LEGEND OF THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS_

_Hogwarts was founded during a time when magic was feared by non-magic persons ("Muggles") and witches and wizards often persecuted. One of the four founders -Salazar Slytherin- was suspicious of students from Muggle families thinking that they might share the anti-magic prejudices of their Muggle relatives. He did not wish to accept such students into Hogwarts which led to a falling out between himself and the other founders and Slytherin left the school. However, a legend has grown up surrounding this departure which states that, before leaving, Slytherin built a secret chamber within Hogwarts that none but his heir could open. He is supposed to have concealed inside this chamber a monster that would rid the school of all students of Muggle parentage. Though this legend has persisted for centuries, Hogwarts School has been searched many times and no "Chamber of Secrets" has ever been found._


	11. In Search of the Heir

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**In Search of the Heir**

Sophie did not waste time in relating the legend of the Chamber of Secrets as told by _Hogwarts, A History_ to Hermione, Harry and Ron. The whole school seemed to know the legend within a few days (Sophie had been right -all the copies of _Hogwarts, A History_ had disappeared very quickly) and Sophie could sense the tension in the air as she sat in the Gryffindor common room doing her Charms homework with Hermione, Harry and Ron. The sound of two books slamming shut made her look up: Ron and Hermione had apparently decided that trying to do homework was, at the moment, a fruitless endeavour.

Hermione asked, "Who can it be, though? Who'd _want_ all the Squibs and Muggle-borns out of Hogwarts?"

"Let's think. Who do we know who thinks Muggle-borns are scum?" Ron's tone indicated he thought the answer obvious.

Hermione responded, "If you're talking about Malfoy-"

"Of course I am! You heard him: '_You'll be next, Mudbloods!'_ Come on, you've only got to look at his foul rat face to know it's him-"

Hermione didn't seem certain. "Malfoy, the heir of Slytherin?"

"But don't you remember, Ron," began Sophie. "Dumbledore said a second year couldn't have Petrified Mrs. Norris. I know Malfoy hates Muggle-borns, but so do lots of people, unfortunately."

"But look at his family. The whole lots of them have been in Slytherin, he's always boasting about it," Harry persisted. "They could easily be Slytherin's descendants. His father's definitely evil enough."

"Sure," said Sophie. Her parents had always said that they thought Lucius Malfoy had been a close follower of You Know Who during the war. "But you're not making much sense: lots of families could say the same, just because most of them end up in the same house doesn't mean they're descended from that founder."

"Still though," Ron was most unwilling to abandon his theory. "We know his family hates Muggle-borns and they've got a connection to Slytherin. They could've had the key to the Chamber of Secrets for centuries! Handing it down, father to son..."

Sophie raised a skeptical eyebrow, but Hermione said, "Well, I suppose it's possible..."

"But how do we prove it?" wondered Harry.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "We haven't even got a scrap of real evidence and you guys already want to prove it."

Hermione was deep in thought and didn't seem to hear Sophie. "There might be a way. Of course, it would be difficult. And dangerous, very dangerous. We'd be breaking about fifty school rules, I expect."

Ron was impatient. "If, in a month or so, you feel like explaining, you will let us know, won't you?" Sophie grinned at him.

"All right. What we'd need is to get inside the Slytherin common room and ask Malfoy a few questions without him realizing it's us."

"What?" asked Sophie, bemused. Ron laughed and Harry chimed in, "But that's impossible."

Hermione contradicted him. "No, it's not. All we'd need would be some Polyjuice Potion."

Harry and Ron spoke simultaneously. "What's that?"

Sophie knew what Polyjuice Potion was, having heard Dora talk about an incident the Aurors had had to intervene with that involved the potion. Hermione explained it to Harry and Ron, leaving Sophie to her thoughts. She seriously doubted her cousin was the heir of Slytherin, not the least because according to Dumbledore a second year could not be behind the attacks and Malfoy had never seemed particularly exceptional to Sophie.

"How about Malfoy and Potter?" Snape suggested, a devilish smile playing about his lips.

"Excellent idea!" Lockhart cried. They were in the midst of a Duelling Club meeting that had been established ever since the recent attack on Colin Creevey who was now lying as though dead in the hospital wing having been Petrified. Snape and Lockhart were looking for a pair of students to exemplify how to disarm one's opponent. She, Ron and Hermione could only back away with the rest of the students as Harry and Malfoy faced each other in the middle of the Great Hall.

"Snape had better not be telling Malfoy to try anything on Harry," Ron said, grimly watching as Snape whispered something in Malfoy's ear.

Lockhart called, "Three - two - one - go!"

"_Serpensortia_!" Malfoy yelled, lifting his wand. A dark snake erupted from the end of his wand and fell to the floor, hissing at Harry. Many students screamed and backed up further. Sophie, Hermione and Ron were jostled along.

Snape started forwards, though he was clearly in no great rush. "Don't move, Potter. I'll get rid of it..."

But Lockhart intervened. "Allow me!" He waved his wand, but only succeeded in throwing the snake in the air, further angering it when it landed hard on the ground again.

"Can't he do _anything_?" Sophie muttered to Ron.

What happened next, however, made Sophie forget all about Lockhart's incompetence. The hissing snake had advanced on their fellow student, Justin Finch-Fletchley, clearly about to attack him with its sharp fangs. Before anything else could be done, Harry charged towards the snake, himself hissing with sinister-sounding guttural tones. At once the snake turned from Justin to gaze at Harry, as though it had understood Harry's hissing.

Sophie had never heard anyone speak Parseltongue before, but there was no doubt in her mind now that this was what Harry had spoken in. No one else seemed to doubt it either. There was a moment or two of shocked silence before all around people startedmuttering darkly. Harry might as wll have publicly announced himself to be a Dark wizard in English. It seemed obvious to Sophie that his being a Parselmouth was something he ought to have kept quiet.

Strangely, harry did not seem to take this view of things. He was, of all things, grinning broadly at Justin.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Justin marched angrily out of the Great Hall.

Sophie, Hermione and Ron made their way through the crowd as quickly as they could to reach Harry. Ron got to him first and tugged on Harry's robes indicating that they should leave. Sophie grabbed Harry's other arm and Hermione came alongside them. Sophie and Ron practically had to drag Harry along. Sophie was uncomfortably aware of the fact that people were pulling away from them, not wanting to be near a Parselmouth or those with him. Finally they made it to their common room which was deserted. Sophie and Ron let Harry go into an armchair.

"You're a Parselmouth," said Ron. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I'm a what?" Harry was confused.

"_A Parselmouth_," said Sophie and Ron in unison.

"You can talk to snakes!" Ron explained.

"I know. I mean, that's only the second time I've ever done it. I accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once," related Harry. "Long story - but it was telling me it had never seen Brazil and I sort of set it free without meaning to. That was before I knew I was a wizard..."

"A boa constrictor told you it had never seen Brazil?"

"So? I bet loads of people here can do it," Harry said.

"No, they can't," said Sophie. "Look, what on earth were you saying to the snake?"

"What d'you-?" Harry seemed very confused and angry. "You were there, you heard me, I told that snake not to attack Justin-"

"Oh, that's what you said to it?" interrupted Ron.

"We heard you speaking Parseltongue, Harry," Sophie explained. "That's the language snakes speak. None of us could understand you, and when you ran towards the snake like that it sort of looked to everyone like you were telling it to attack Justin."

Harry looked bewildered. "I spoke a different language? But - I didn't realize - how can I speak a language without knowing I can speak it?"

"You just said you did know you could talk to snakes," Sophie reminded him. "The boa constrictor?"

"Yeah, but I thought I was talking in English...Look, d'you want to tell me what's wrong with stopping a dirty great snake biting Justin's head off? What does it matter _how_ I did it as long as Justin doesn't have to join the Headless Hunt?"

"It matters because being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for," explained Hermione. "That's why the symbol of Slytherin house is a serpent."

Ron added, "Exactly. And now the whole school's going to think you're his great-great-great-grandson or something..."

The Polyjuice Potion was thick and mud-like as it bubbled away. Sophie and Hermione knelt around the cauldron. Sophie added lacewings to the potion as Hermione carefully examined the potion against the description of it in the book by the candlelight. Moaning Myrtle's bathroom where they were brewing the Potion was very dark on this early Christmas morning.

"It looks right," said Hermione. "I think it's ready."

Sophie nodded. "Should we go wake up Harry and Ron?"

"I think we'd be better off taking it in the evening," said Hermione, thoughtfully. "We still have to get the bits of the people we want to turn into. I've got a plan for Harry and Ron to get some of Crabbe and Goyle's hair."

"And whose hair are you using?"

"Millicent Bulstrode's," said Hermione. "I picked a hair off her robes at the Dueling Club. You'd better go see if you can find Lily. I'll go wake Harry and Ron up and tell them it's ready."

So the two girls left the bathroom, Hermione heading for Gryffindor Tower and Sophie for the Great Hall. Her footsteps echoed loudly as she made her way through the empty corridors. She had been home for Christmas last year, but Harry said the castle was even more empty than it had been the year previous at Christmas and no one wondered why. Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nearly Headless Nick had both just been Petrified as well and no one wanted to be the heir's next victim. Herself, Hermione, Harry, Ron, Lily, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were the only students in their year that were staying. On entering the Great Hall Sophie spotted Lily sitting at the Slytherin table and went over to her.

"Happy Christmas, Lily."

"Happy Christmas, Sophie," returned Lily.

"Look, I've got to talk to you about that important thing I mentioned before," said Sophie.

"Sure," said Lily. "Sit down." Although the Hall was mostly empty, Lily leaned towards Sophie so that their heads were quite close together and spoke in an undertone. "What is it?"

Sophie followed her example and whispered. "The Polyjuice Potion's ready so we're planning on taking it this evening after dinner."

Lily nodded. "So you need some of my hair."

"And directions to get into the Slytherin common room."

"OK. You go down the steps there that lead to the dungeons," Lily pointed these out, then went on to describe which passages to take and where to turn. Sophie listened closely and had Lily repeat the directions until she had them completely memorized.

"Then you'll come to a blank stretch of wall," Lily continued. "And you say the password -it's 'pure-blood' right now- and a hidden door will open and lead you into the common room."

"Password's 'pure-blood,' " Sophie repeated. "OK. I think I've got this. Now, the hair."

Lily pulled out a few strands of her reddish blonde hair and Sophie carefully placed them in a glass phial she had in her pocket.

"Now, just make sure you stay clear of the Slytherin common room after dinner," Sophie said.

Lily nodded. "Right. And let me know how it goes afterwards."

"OK."

"Sophie?"

"Yes?"

"You don't really believe Malfoy is the heir of Slytherin, do you?"

Sophie rolled her eyes. "No. I'm mainly just humoring Hermione, Harry and Ron. Besides," A grin spread over Sophie's face. "I think it will be pretty interesting to be someone else for a whole hour."

Lily smiled. "Yeah. I don't think he is either. He's a terrible bully, but I don't think he's good enough at magic to petrify anyone."

"You're not supposed to be here, Tonks," said a drawling voice.

"Speak of the devil," muttered Sophie as her cousin, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle sat down a few seats along from herself and Lily.

"Plenty of space, Malfoy," said Lily coolly.

"No need to go mixing up the houses," said Malfoy. "It's not as if there wasn't room at the Gryffindor table."

Sophie stood up. "Sure. Lily, want to join me at the Gryffindor table?"

Lily grinned. "Of course."

Malfoy scowled.

Sophie wrinkled her nose as dense smoke floated all around her and Hermione from the thickened Potion. Hermione stirred the cauldron as Sophie got four glasses ready.

"Hermione? Sophie?" a boy's voice came from the other side of the cubicle door. Sophie unlocked it revealing Harry and Ron.

"Did you get them?" inquired Hermione.

Harry held up a hair.

"Good," said Hermione. "And I snaked these spare robes out of the laundry. You'll need bigger sizes once you're Crabbe and Goyle."

Sophie shivered with excitement and apprehension."This is going to be _so_ weird."

"I'm sure I've done everything right. It looks like the book says it should," said Hermione checking the instructions for a final time. 'Once we've drunk it we'll have exactly an hour before we change back into ourselves."

Ron asked, "Now what?"

"We separate it into four glasses," said Hermione. "And add the hairs."She carefully ladsled some Potion into each glass and added Millicent Bulstrode's hair to her own. The dark Potion became a nauseating yellow colour.

"Urgh - essence of Millicent Bulstrode. Bet it tastes disgusting," observed Ron.

"Add yours, then."

Sophie, Harry and Ron did. Harry's Potion greatly resembled bogies and Ron's looked distinctly like mud.

"Hang on. We'd better not all drink them in here ... Once we turn into Crabbe and Goyle we won't fit. And Millicent Bulstrode's no pixie," Harry pointed out.

"Good thinking. We'll take separate cubicles," said Ron.

Sophie moved into the next cubicle, her heart beating rather fast. If something went wrong...

"Ready?" Harry's voice asked.

"Ready," Sophie replied together with Hermione and Ron.

Harry counted: "One...two...three..."

Sophie drank the lilac Potion. It had a pleasant coconut flavour. However as soon as the Potion hit her esophagus her whole insides started twisting and Sophie wondered momentarily if the Potion had gone wrong. She felt like she was ill and on fire all at once and suddenly she realized that she was getting shorter, in fact, her whole body was changing its dimensions...

Horrible as this was, it lasted only a few seconds, then stopped suddenly. She stood up a bit shakily (for she had fallen over during the transformation). She seemed to be all right. She opened the cubicle door. Lily Moon was looking back at her from the mirror. She gaped. It was amazing. She raised her hand and scratched her head. Lily did the same.

"Are you three okay?" A raspy voice asked.

"Yes," said Sophie. It was even weirder to hear Lily's voice coming from her own vocal chords.

"Yeah," A grunting voice answered.

One of the cubicles unlocked and Goyle stepped out, staring into the mirror like Sophie had.

"Are you Harry or Ron?" she asked him.

"Harry," he replied.

Another door opened. It was Crabbe -or, rather Ron.

"This is unbelievable. Unbelievable," said Ron.

"We'd better get going," said Harry "Sophie, did you find out where the Slytherin common room is?"

She nodded. Ron banged on Hermione's door.

"C'mon, we need to go -"

"I - I don't think I'm going to come after all," came a very high voice. "You go on without me."

"Hermione, we know Millicent Bulstrode's ugly, no one's going to know it's you -" Ron said.

"Ron," said Sophie in exasperation. "What's wrong, Hermione?"

"Nothing - really," Hermione responded. "I don't think I'll come. You three hurry up, you re wasting time."

"Now you looks more like Goyle. That's how he looks every time a teacher asks him a question," said Ron referring to Harry's confused expression.

"Hermione, are you okay?" Harry asked.

"Fine - I'm fine - go on -"

"We'll meet you back here, all right?" Harry said.

Sophie left the bathroom with Harry and Ron. "Follow me," she told them.

They did and Sophie led them down to the dungeons, reciting Lily's instructions in her head. Sure enough, she was able to find the correct location and could see up ahead in the corridor a stretch of bare stone wall.

"There you are," came a voice behind her. She looked round and saw Malfoy approaching Harry and Ron. "Have you two been pigging out in the Great Hall all this time? I've been looking for you, I want to show you something really funny."

Sophie kept walking and Malfoy, Harry and Ron came as well. She and Malfoy reached the stone wall at the same time. Malfoy paused.

"What's the new password again?" he asked Harry.

"It's 'pure-blood,' "said Sophie. Just as Lily had said, a stone wall appeared and opened. Sophie marched through, trying to look as though she did this all time and Malfoy, Harry and Ron followed in after her.

Sophie had heard her mother speak about the Slytherin common room once or twice and had only determined that it was quite different from the Gryffindor one. Now, seeing it, she could see it was a room that ran lengthwise with elegant furniture, a roaring fire and green lamps hanging from the ceiling (she remembered Mum telling her it was under the lake). Sophie thought it was a very beautiful place.

"Wait here. I'll go and get it my father's just sent it to me -" Malfoy gestured for Harry and Ron to sit in two chairs next to the fireplace while he went off to get something. Sophie sat down a few seats away from them and grabbed a copy of _Witch Weekly _that was next to her seat, pretending to read it so that she would be able to listen to Malfoy talking with Harry and Ron while not seeming to be eavesdropping. She had a feeling Lily didn't normally hang around with Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle.

Malfoy soon returned with a newspaper cutout and handed it to Ron.

"That'll give you a laugh,"

Looking over the edge of her magazine, Sophie saw that Crabbe –Ron- looked shocked, but gave a false laugh and handed the cutout to Harry.

"Well? Don't you think it's funny?" asked Malfoy.

"Ha, ha," Harry said.

Sophie glared meaningfully at him and Ron. They seemed to be doing a terrible job acting their parts.

Malfoy went on, "Arthur Weasley loves Muggles so much he should snap his wand in half and go and join them. You'd never know the Weasleys were pure-bloods, the way they behave. What's up with you, Crabbe?"

Ron looked very angry. "Stomach ache."

Malfoy chortled. "Well, go up to the hospital wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick from me. You know, I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't reported all these attacks yet. I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said old Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place. He loves Muggle-borns. A decent headmaster would never've let slime like that Creevey in. `Potter," Malfoy began imitating Colin. "Can I have your picture, Potter. Can I have your autograph. Can I lick your shoes, please, Potter?' What's the matter with you two?" Harry and Ron were doing a terrible job and had forgotten to laugh at Malfoy's joke. Sophie thought that if they had been impersonating people with normal intelligence then Malfoy surely would have caught on before now.

"Saint Potter, the Mudbloods' friend," said Malfoy slowly. "He's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or he wouldn't go around with that jumped up Granger Mudblood. And people think he's Slytherin's heir! I wish I knew who it is. I could help them."

Goyle -Harry- responded, "You must have some idea who's behind it all..."

"You know I haven't, Goyle, how many times do I have to tell you. And Father won't tell me anything about the last time the Chamber was opened either. Of course, it was fifty years ago, so it was before his time, but he knows all about it, and he says that it was all kept quiet and it'll look suspicious if I know too much about it. But I know one thing - last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So I bet it's a matter of time before one of them's killed this time ... I hope it's Granger," he said with relish.

Sophie couldn't take it any longer. "Don't say that!" she admonished him.

Malfoy sneered at her. "I guess you haven't got any proper wizard feeling either, Moon. You were in the same compartment with Granger on the train coming here, weren't you?"

"Yes," said Sophie. "And not liking someone because they beat you in lessons doesn't give you a license to wish them dead!"

Malfoy looked furious at that. "It's not like I can actually do anything, Moon. It's the Heir that'll be doing away with Mudbloods."

Sophie glared at him, but he turned away from her and back to Harry and Ron.

"Father says to keep my head down and let the Heir of Slytherin get on with it. He says the school needs ridding of all the Mudblood filth, but not to get mixed up in it. Of course, he's got a lot on his plate at the moment. You know the Ministry of Magic raided our manor last week."

"You poor thing," muttered Sophie sarcastically. At that moment she started to notice something very strange happening to Harry and Ron...

"Shut up," Malfoy snapped at her. "Luckily, they didn't find much. Father's got some very valuable Dark Arts stuff. But luckily, we've got our own secret chamber under the drawing-room-"

"Gotta go!" Sophie stood and blurted out. She raised her eyebrows and gestured frantically at Harry and Ron. Malfoy looked bewildered. Harry and Ron got the message.

"Medicine for my stomach," Ron muttered, and the three of them dashed unceremoniously from the common room. Sophie hoped against hope that Malfoy hadn't recognized them turning back into themselves. They kept running until they reached Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

"Well, it wasn't a complete waste of time. I know we still haven't found out who's doing the attacks, but I'm going to write to Dad tomorrow and tell him to check under the Malfoys' drawing room," said Ron. he knocked on the door of Hermione's cubicle. "Hermione, come out, we've got loads to tell you -"

"Go away!"

"What's the matter? You must be back to normal by now, we are."

But Moaning Myrtle suddenly appeared through the door in front of them looking uncharacteristically gleeful.

"Ooooooh, wait till you see. It's awful-"

Hermione opened the door, her robes covering her head.

"What's up? Have you still got Millicent's nose or something?" Ron questioned.

"Hermione?" asked Sophie, concerned.

Hermione dropped her robes revealing a face covered in fur and pointed ears sticking out on top of her head.

"It was a c-cat hair! M-Millicent Bulstrode m-must have a cat!" she cried. "And the p-potion isn't supposed to be used for animal transformations!"

**Poor Hermione…I hope you all liked this and are enjoying the story. Thank you SO much to all of you who are reading and reviewing and favouriting. It all means a lot to me.**

**I've worked out a schedule for myself in terms of writing and posting these chapters, and I think you can expect a new chapter every Monday and Thursday from here on out. **


	12. Uneasy Suspicions

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**Uneasy Suspicions**

It took just over a month for Madam Pomfrey to return Hermione to her normal state. On the first evening she was without all her fur and cat-like attributes, she and Sophie were sitting by the fire in the Gryffindor common room when they were joined by Ron and Harry.

"What's that?" Sophie asked Harry. He was carrying a small black book.

"It's a diary," Harry told her as he and Ron settled themselves beside Sophie and Hermione.

Sophie grinned. "I didn't think you were the type to write in a diary, Harry."

"It's not _my_ diary," Harry explained. "We found it in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Someone tried to flush it down the toilet. It belonged to T.M. Riddle." He showed them the name inscribed on the diary.

"T.M. Riddle got an award for Special Services to the School. I know," said Ron grimly, "Because I kept burping slugs on it during my detention with Filch."

Hermione took the diary and examined it. "Oooh, it might have hidden powers."

"If it has, it's hiding them very well. Maybe it's shy. I don't know why you don't chuck it, Harry," said Ron.

"I wish I knew why someone did try to chuck it," said Harry. "I wouldn't mind knowing how Riddle got an award for special services to Hogwarts either."

"Could've been anything," said Ron. "Maybe he got thirty .s or saved a teacher from the giant squid. Maybe he murdered Myrtle; that would've done everyone a favour ..."

Sophie laughed but Hermione and Harry both appeared to be deep in thought.

"What?" Ron asked them.

"Well, the Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years ago, wasn't it? That's what Malfoy said."

"Yeah. . ." said Ron slowly.

"So?" asked Sophie.

"And this diary is fifty years old," said Hermione, tapping it excitedly.

"Is it?" asked Sophie. "You could have said so." Hermione handed her the diary and Sophie examined the back cover. Sure enough the year was written _1943_.

"I don't get it," said Ron.

"Oh, Ron, wake up. We know the person who opened the Chamber last time was expelled fifty years ago. We know T. M. Riddle got an award for special services to the school fifty years ago. Well, what if Riddle got his special award for catching the Heir of Slytherin?" Hermione continued. "His diary would probably tell us everything - where the Chamber is, and how to open it, and what sort of creature lives in it - the person who's behind the attacks this time wouldn't want that lying around, would they?"

"That's a brilliant theory, Hermione with just one tiny little flaw. There's nothing written in his diary."

"It might be invisible ink!" Hermione insisted. "Give it to me, Sophie."

Sophie handed the diary back to her and Hermione tapped it with her wand while saying, "_Aparecium_!" This did not work. Hermione pulled out a bright red object.

"It's a Revealer, I got it in Diagon Alley."

She rubbed the revealer on a page in the diary. No words appeared.

"Tell us again, Harry."

Harry sighed. Sophie was getting a bit weary of this tale too, but it was so unbelievable to them that she wanted it recounted at least one more time.

"I told you," said Harry. "I was writing in Riddle's diary and he started writing back to me. I asked him about the Chamber of Secrets and he offered to show me his memory of him catching the culprit. I started to see his memory from when he was at school fifty years ago and the old Headmaster, Professor Dippet, was telling him he would have to go back to his orphanage if the person behind the attacks wasn't caught. Then Riddle went down into the dungeons and found Hagrid with this great, hairy beast and said he was turning him in for opening the Chamber of Secrets and setting the monster on people."

"Riddle might have got the wrong person. Maybe it was some other monster that was attacking people . . . ." suggested Hermione.

"How many monsters d'you think this place can hold?" said Ron.

"Quite a few, evidently," said Sophie. "I still haven't forgotten Fluffy." Ron half-smiled at her.

"We always knew Hagrid had been expelled. And the attacks must've stopped after Hagrid was kicked out," observed Harry. "Otherwise, Riddle wouldn't have got his award."

"Riddle does sound like Percy," said Ron. "Who asked him to grass on Hagrid, anyway?"

"But the monster had killed someone, Ron," Hermione reminded him.

Harry added, "And Riddle was going to go back to some Muggle orphanage if they closed Hogwarts. I don't blame him for wanting to stay here ..."

"I don't see how Hagrid could have meant to hurt anyone, though," said Sophie for what seemed like the millionth time. "Couldn't Riddle have at least made that clear? It seems like he was trying to get Hagrid expelled on purpose. If they had known it was all accidental…"

"You met Hagrid down Knockturn Alley, didn't you, Harry?" asked Ron

"He was buying a Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent," Harry replied.

"Do you think we should go and ask Hagrid about it all?" questioned Hermione tentatively.

"That'd be a cheerful visit. Hello, Hagrid. Tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?" Ron asked sarcastically.

Sophie grimaced. "Yeah...Maybe we should only ask him if there's another attack." She looked at the other three. "Agreed?" They nodded.

Gryffindor was to take on Hufflepuff in a Quidditch match in March. The day dawned very bright and sunny, putting the weather in stark contrast to the way Sophie was feeling. No more attacks had occurred, but yesterday someone had ransacked Harry's dormitory, evidently searching for Riddle's diary, as it had been the only thing Harry had not been able to find. This led them to think that it could only have been a Gryffindor who could have done it. Sophie felt slightly sick thinking the heir of Slytherin might be nearby, someone that she knew.

Sophie was leaving the Great Hall with Hermione, Harry and Ron when all of a sudden Harry shouted. The other three jumped, startled.

"Harry, what-?" Sophie began.

"The voice! I just heard it again - didn't you?" Harry asked them. Ron and Sophie both shook their heads, but Hermione slapped her forehead.

"Harry - I think I've just understood something! I've got to go to the library!" Hermione dashed away.

Harry left as well to get to the changing room, leaving Sophie and Ron to make their way out to the Quidditch pitch on their own.

"Hermione better hurry up or she'll miss the match," said Ron as he and Sophie settled themselves into the stands.

"Don't know that she'd be too fussed, really," said Sophie, testing the vision on her binoculars. "Whatever she understood must have been really important for her to just run off like that...Hey, what's McGonagall doing?"

Professor McGonagall had just come jogging out onto the pitch with a large megaphone.

"This match has been cancelled. All students are to make their way back to the House common rooms, where their Heads of Houses will give them further information. As quickly as you can, please!" She intoned.

"She's getting Harry," said Ron, watching as Professor McGonagall gestured for Harry to join her.

"Let's go," said Sophie. She and Ron made their way through the mass of students and set off running to catch up with Professor McGonagall and Harry who were heading up to the school.

"Yes, perhaps you'd better come, too, Miss Tonks, Weasley ..." she said to them.

Sophie exchanged a confused look with Harry who shrugged. They and Ron followed Professor McGonagall all the way back to the hospital wing.

"This will be a bit of a shock. There has been another attack ... another double attack," she informed them. They entered the hospital wing.

"Hermione!" said Ron. It was, indeed, Hermione. She was Petrified and lay stiff and frozen on one of the beds, her eyes wide open. A Ravenclaw sixth year girl was lying on the bed next to her.

Professor McGonagall spoke, "They were found near the library. I don't suppose either of you can explain this." She held up a small mirror. "It was on the floor next to them."

"No," said Sophie in a very small voice. She hated seeing Hermione in that state; it made her stomach churn uncomfortably. Harry and Ron shook their heads.

"I will escort you back to Gryffindor Tower. I need to address the students in any case," said Professor McGonagall.

Back in the Gryffindor common room McGonagall told the students of new rules and safety measures being implemented for their protection. She finished by saying, "I need hardly add that I have rarely been so distressed. It is likely that the school will be closed unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught. I would urge anyone who thinks they might know anything about them to come forward." With that she climbed out through the portrait hole.

Fourth year Lee Jordan held up his fingers. "That's two Gryffindors down, not counting a Gryffindor ghost, one Ravenclaw, and one Hufflepuff. Haven't any of the teachers noticed that the Slytherins are all safe. Isn't it obvious all this stuff's coming from Slytherin? The Heir of Slytherin, the monster of Slytherin - why don't they just chuck all the Slytherins out?"

Sophie frowned; Lee's words bristled her. Besides the fact that the evidence was currently pointing to someone in Gryffindor, Sophie knew it wasn't fair to paint all Slytherins with such a broad brush, thinking of Lily Moon.

"What're we going to do? D'you think they suspect Hagrid?" Ron asked Sophie and Harry quietly.

"We said we'd talk to him if there was another attack," pointed out Sophie.

"I can't believe it's him this time," said Harry, and Sophie nodded. But if he set the monster loose last time he'll know how to get inside the Chamber of Secrets, and that's a start."

Sophie waited in the common room that evening after everyone else had gone to bed, pretending to be working on her Potions homework. She was really waiting for Ron and Harry to come down from their dormitory with Harry's Invisibility Cloak so they could go see Hagrid. Eventually both boys came down the stairs that lead to their dormitory and Harry threw the Cloak over the three of them and they left the common room to make their way down to Hagrid's.

Thankfully, they were able to make it out of the castle unnoticed by any of the teachers or prefects patrolling the corridors and waited until they were on Hagrid's doorstep before taking the Cloak off.

Sophie knocked on the door and within a few seconds found her face inches away from the tip of a crossbow. She gave a startled cry and stumbled backwards into Ron and Harry.

"Oh. Sorry 'bout that," said Hagrid. "What're you three doin' here?"

"What's that for?" Harry asked, meaning the crossbow.

"Nothin' - nothin' - I've bin expectin' doesn' matter - Sit down - I'll make tea -" Hagrid was very obviously distracted.

Harry asked, "Are you okay, Hagrid? Did you hear about Hermione?"

"Oh, I heard, all righ'," Hagrid sounded terrible.

Hagrid was not paying much attention to what he was doing -the tea he gave them was little more than hot water- and Sophie felt terrible for having to ask what they had come for, but she knew it must be done.

"Hagrid," she started carefully. "We were just - just wondering, about all the stuff that's been happening, we were wondering if you could tell us-"

She was interrupted by a bang on the door. Someone was knocking to come in.

In a flash Harry seized the Cloak and threw it over himself, Sophie and Ron. The three of them backed, invisible, into a corner and Hagrid opened the door.

"Good evening, Hagrid." It was Dumbledore, followed by (Sophie almost gasped aloud) the Minister for Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge. Sophie recognized him from photographs she had seen in the _Daily Prophet_.

"That's Dad's boss! Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic!" Ron explained softly to Harry.

"Bad business, Hagrid. Very bad business. Had to come," said Fudge. "Four attacks on Muggle-borns. Things've gone far enough. Ministry's got to act."

"I never- you know I never," Hagrid stumbled. "Professor Dumbledore, sir -"

Dumbledore spoke to Fudge, "I want it understood, Cornelius, that Hagrid has my full confidence."

"Look, Albus. Hagrid's record's against him. Ministry's got to do something - the school governors have been in touch -"

"Yet again, Cornelius, I tell you that taking Hagrid away will not help in the slightest."

"Look at it from my point of view. I'm under a lot of pressure. Got to be seen to be doing something. If it turns out it wasn't Hagrid, he'll be back and no more said. But I've got to take him. Got to. Wouldn't be doing my duty -"

"Take me?" said Hagrid, who was trembling. "Take me where?"

"For a short stretch only. Not a punishment, Hagrid," Fudge seemed uneasy. "More a precaution. If someone else is caught, you'll be let out with a full apology -"

"Not Azkaban." croaked Hagrid.

There was another knock on the door and Dumbledore opened it. A tall pale man with blond hair entered. Sophie did not recognize him, although Harry evidently did as he gasped.

"Already here, Fudge. Good, good. . ." said the man.

"What're you doin' here? Get outta my house!" Hagrid apparently knew of this man as well.

"My dear man," said the stranger. "Please believe me, I have no pleasure at all in being inside your - er - d'you call this a house? I simply called at the school and was told that the headmaster was here."

"And what exactly did you want with me, Lucius?" Dumbledore asked.

"_Dreadful_ thing, Dumbledore, but the governors feel it's time for you to step aside," said the man, taking out a scroll of parchment. "This is an Order of Suspension - you'll find all twelve signatures on it. I'm afraid we feel you're losing your touch. How many attacks have there been now. Two more this afternoon, wasn't it. At this rate, there'll be no Muggle-borns left at Hogwarts, and we all know what an _awful_ loss that would be to the school."

Fudge did not seem to agree. "Oh, now, see here, Lucius. Dumbledore suspended - no, no - last thing we want just now-"

"The appointment - or suspension - of the headmaster is a matter for the governors, Fudge. And as Dumbledore has failed to stop these attacks-"

"See here, Malfoy," said Fudge, and Sophie realized who this man was: Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father and (her insides squirmed at the thought) her own uncle who had been at school with her parents. "If _Dumbledore_ can't stop them, I mean to say, who _can_?"

Lucius Malfoy smirked. "That remains to be seen. But as all twelve of us have voted -"

'An' how many did yeh have ter threaten an' blackmail before they agreed, Malfoy, eh?" yelled Hagrid.

"Dear, dear," drawled Mr. Malfoy. Sophie was struck by the similarity between his and his son's way of speaking. "You know, that temper of yours will lead you into trouble one of these days, Hagrid. I would advise you not to shout at the Azkaban guards like that." Sophie shivered involuntarily, thinking of the horrible creatures that guarded Azkaban. "They won't like it at all."

Hagrid was insistent. "Yeh can' take Dumbledore! Take him away, an' the Muggle-borns won' stand a chance! There'll be killin's next!"

"Calm yourself, Hagrid. If the governors want my removal, Lucius, I shall of course step aside -" said Dumbledore.

Fudge spoke, "But -"

"_No_!" came Hagrid.

"However, you will find that I will only _truly_ have left this school when none here are loyal to me," declared Dumbledore. "You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."

"Admirable sentiments," Mr. Malfoy responded. "We shall all miss your-er-highly individual way of running things, Albus, and only hope that your successor will manage to prevent any-ah-"_killin's_".

Mr. Malfoy opened the door and let Dumbledore go ahead of him before leaving himself.

"If anyone wanted ter find out some _stuff_," Hagrid glanced meaningfully at the place where Sophie, Harry and Ron stood. "All they'd have ter do would be ter follow the _spiders_. That'd lead 'em right! That's all I'm sayin'. All right, I'm comin'," He paused before following Fudge out the door. "An' someone'll need ter feed Fang while I'm away."

Hagrid closed the door behind him and left Sophie, Harry and Ron alone. Ron removed the Cloak.

"We're in trouble now. No Dumbledore," Ron shook his head. "They might as well close the school tonight. There'll be an attack a day with him gone."

"So that was Lucius Malfoy?" Sophie asked, looking out the window at the four figures walking away.

"Yeah," said Harry. "We saw him in Flourish and Blotts over the summer."

"I suppose we'd better get back to Gryffindor Tower," said Ron gloomily.

Sophie glanced out the window again. "Let's wait till we're sure they're far enough away. They might look back if they hear the hut door opening."

"Good thinking," said Harry.

"It's so awful for Hagrid," said Sophie. "Having to go to Azkaban when he hasn't even done anything."

"Well-" said Ron, twisting his mouth.

Sophie rounded on him. "You _don't_ think Hagrid's behind it, do you?"

Ron hesitated only a spilt second before shaking his head.

"How could the Minister do that, though?" asked Harry. "He didn't even know Hagrid was guilty. And what's Azkaban?"

"Azkaban's the wizard prison," explained Ron.

"And you heard Fudge," added Sophie. "He's trying to save his own face by imprisoning Hagrid. My parents have never liked him."

"I think it's safe to go now," said Harry, peering out the window.

'OK," said Ron, and he threw the Cloak over them once more.


	13. Journey to the Chamber

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**Journey to the Chamber**

Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons did nothing to raise Sophie's spirits over the next few days. Hagrid's last words to them: _follow the spiders_ kept echoing in her head. She, Harry and Ron had spotted spiders earlier that day. They had been heading into the Forbidden Forest.

"Come now, why all these long faces?" asked Lockhart. Sophie rolled her eyes. The only good thing, she told herself, is that he'll be gone by the end of the year. Rumours abounded that the Defence Against the Dark Arts job was cursed as no teacher ever seemed to last for more than a year. Dora had had seven different Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers while she was at Hogwarts.

"Don't you people realize? The danger has passed!" cried Lockhart. "The culprit has been taken away -"

"Says who?" asked Dean Thomas.

"My dear young man," said Lockhart, in a patronizing voice. "The Minister of Magic wouldn't have taken Hagrid if he hadn't been one hundred percent sure that he was guilty."

Ron spoke up. "Oh, yes he would."

"I flatter myself I know a touch more about Hagrid's arrest than you do, Mr. Weasley," Lockhart responded.

"I don't-" Ron began, but Sophie saw Harry kick him under the desk.

"We weren't there, remember?"

Sophie felt miserable through the rest of the lesson. She couldn't work properly (not that she wanted to, considering the content of Lockhart's class) with Hermione's seat conspicuously absent beside her.

She looked up at a ripping sound in front of her. Harry seemed to have just ripped a piece off his parchment and passed it to Ron. Ron glanced at it then dropped it on the floor and kicked it backwards toward Sophie. Glancing at Lockhart, Sophie dropped her quill and in the process of retrieving it picked up the piece of parchment. It read: _Let's do it tonight._

Sophie scrawled _OK_ on the parchment and used her foot to slide it on the floor back to Harry who picked it up. She couldn't stand not knowing or acting. They had to something, _anything,_ to get to the bottom of this.

"Potter! Tonks! Weasley! What are you doing?" Professor McGonagall's voice rang out in the corridor.

Sophie groaned inwardly. She, Harry and Ron had been sneaking off, trying to get into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to ask her how she had died. Aragog, the giant spider they had met on their terrifying excursion into the Forbidden Forest had told them that the Muggle-born that had died the last time the Chamber was opened had been a girl who died in a bathroom and they had made the connection to Moaning Myrtle. The problem was getting away from a teacher long enough to talk to Myrtle.

Ron struggled to find an explanation for Professor McGonagall. "We were -we were-we were going to - to go and see -"

Harry interjected, "Hermione. We haven't seen her for ages, Professor, and we thought we'd sneak into the hospital wing, you know, and tell her the Mandrakes are nearly ready and, er, not to worry -"

Sophie was shocked as she gazed at Professor McGonagall, who, instead of giving them a punishment, spoke in a softened voice that sounded close to breaking.

"Of course. Of course, I realize this has all been hardest on the friends of those who have been ... I quite understand. Yes, Potter, of course you may visit Miss Granger. I will inform Professor Binns where you've gone. Tell Madam Pomfrey I have given my permission." And she let them go off to the hospital wing by themselves.

"That was the best story you've ever come up with," said Ron and Sophie thoroughly agreed.

"Wonder if she did see the attacker, though. Because if he sneaked up on them all, no one'll ever know..." Ron said as he, Sophie and Harry gazed sadly at Hermione's frozen form.

"Look," said Harry. He was pointing at Hermione's right hand, which was closed in a fist. "She's holding a piece of paper."

Sophie looked and saw this was true. "I don't remember her with any paper when she ran off on the stairs before she was Petrified."

"Try and get it out," Ron whispered, shifting his chair so that he blocked Harry from Madam Pomfrey's view.

Harry tugged the paper out of Hermione's hand, then smoothed it out and held it so that the three of them could all read it. It looked like it had come from an old book and it read:

_Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it._

Sophie recognized Hermione's handwriting beneath the text. She had written the word _Pipes_.

Sophie gasped.

"Sophie," Harry looked at them. Sophie could tell he had just realized what she had. "Ron, this is it. This is the answer. The monster in the Chamber's a basilisk - a giant serpent! That why I've been hearing that voice all over the place, and nobody else has heard it. It's because I understand parseltongue...the basilisk kills people by looking at them. But no one's died - because no one looked it straight in the eye. Colin saw it through his camera. The basilisk burned up all the film inside it, but Colin just got Petrified. Justin...Justin must've seen the basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick! Nick got the full blast of it, but he couldn't die again...and Hermione and that Ravenclaw prefect were found with a mirror next to them. Hermione had just realized the monster was a basilisk. I bet you anything she warned the first person she met to look around corners with a mirror first! And that girl pulled out her mirror - and -"

"And Mrs. Norris?" Ron interjected.

"Water," said Sophie. "Remember, Ron? The water, you almost slipped and fell! Mrs. Norris saw the basilisk's reflection." She shivered slightly as she realized what she was saying. There was a basilisk roaming the castle...

Harry was still reading the paper. "The crowing of the rooster...is fatal to it"! Hagrid's roosters were killed! The Heir of Slytherin didn't want one anywhere near the castle once the Chamber was opened! Spiders flee before it.! It all fits!"

"But how's the basilisk been getting around the place? A giant snake," said Ron. "Someone would've seen. . ."

"Pipes," said Sophie, pointing to Hermione's writing.

"It's been using the plumbing," mused Harry. "I've been hearing that voice inside the walls . . . ."

Ron made a sudden movement. "The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets!" he cried. "What if it's a bathroom? What if it's in -"

"Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, "said Sophie and Harry together.

"I can't believe it," said Sophie. "All this time...and no one's ever realized..."

"This means I can't be the only Parselmouth in the school," said Harry. "The Heir of Slytherin's one, too. That's how he's been controlling the basilisk."

"What're we going to do?" Ron asked. "Should we go straight to McGonagall?"

"Let's go to the staff room. She'll be there in ten minutes. It's nearly break."

They raced down to the staff room, which was empty and waited. Instead of the bell, however, Professor McGonagall's voice echoed around them:

"All students to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please. "

"Not another attack," said Harry. "Not now."

"What'll we do? Go back to the dormitory?"

"No. In here." Harry motioned for them to hide themselves in the teachers' wardrobe. "Let's hear what it's all about. Then we can tell them what we've found out."

"Harry, I don't think-" began Sophie. She didn't like anything that resembled spying, if it could be helped.

"Come on!" Ron grabbed Sophie's sleeve and pulled her into the wardrobe with himself and Harry just in the nick of time before the teachers came in. When Professor McGonagall came, she spoke:

"It has happened. A student has been taken by the monster. Right into the Chamber itself."

Snape asked, "How can you be sure?"

"The Heir of Slytherin left another message. Right underneath the first one. '_Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.' "_

"Who is it? Which student?"

Professor McGonagall answered, "Ginny Weasley."

Sophie grabbed Ron's arm as he sunk down to his feet.

"We shall have to send all the students home tomorrow. This is the end of Hogwarts. Dumbledore always said. . ." said Professor McGonagall. The solemnity was interrupted by Lockhart bursting in.

"So sorry," He announced. "- Dozed off - what have I missed?"

The teachers stared at him with loathing. Snape spoke: "Just the man. The very man. A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Taken into the Chamber of Secrets itself. Your moment has come at last."

"That's right, Gilderoy. Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?" said Professor Sprout.

"I - well, I -"Lockhart's usual overconfident air had evapourated entirely. Nevertheless, the other teachers reminded him of his former bragging about his knowledge of the Chamber and the monster and how he could easily end the problem.

"We'll leave it to you, then, Gilderoy. Tonight will be an excellent time to do it," said Professor McGonagall. "We'll make sure everyone's out of your way. You'll be able to tackle the monster all by yourself. A free rein at last."

"V very well. I'll - I'll be in my office, getting," Lockhart trembled as he reached the door. "Getting ready." He exited.

"Right. That's got him out from under our feet," Professor McGonagall turned to the remaining teachers. "The Heads of Houses should go and inform their students what has happened. Tell them the Hogwarts Express will take them home first thing tomorrow. Will the rest of you please make sure no students have been left outside their dormitories." And the teachers all cleared out of the staff room.

Sophie sat, later that day, with Harry, Ron, Fred and George in the Gryffindor common room. She couldn't remember ever feeling as horrible as she did right now. Ginny, poor little Ginny...If only,_ if only,_ they had found out sooner the truth about the attacks...

"Do either of you think there's any chance at all she's not - you know," said Ron. Sophie didn't answer. She couldn't think of what she could possibly say.

"D'you know what, I think we should go and see Lockhart," said Ron. "Tell him what we know. He's going to try and get into the Chamber. We can tell him where we think it is, and tell him it's a basilisk in there."

Sophie nodded in silent assent. She felt it was better than doing nothing. She, Ron and Harry left the Gryffindor common room and went to Lockhart's office. They were met with great surprise on arriving there, however. Lockhart had been hastily packing up his things, clearly about to make a run for it.

"After all that stuff you did in your books -" said Harry, disbelievingly.

"Books can be misleading," Lockhart responded.

"You wrote them!"

"My dear boy, do use your common sense. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things," said Lockhart, and he went on to explain how he had simply tracked down witches and wizards who had done great things, modified their memories, and took the credit for their deeds himself. Finally he closed the lid on his trunk.

"Let's see. I think that's everything. Yes. Only one thing left." Lockhart directed his wand at them.

"Awfully sorry, but I'll have to put a Memory Charm on you now. Can't have you blabbing my secrets all over the place. I'd never sell another book -"

Sophie and Harry both pulled their wands at the same moment. "Expelliarmus!" They shouted together. Lockhart fell backwards, disarmed. Ron caught his wand in mid air and threw it out an open window.

"Shouldn't have let Professor Snape teach us that one," said Harry. Snape had used the Disarming Spell at the Duelling Club.

"What d'you want me to do? I don't know where the Chamber of Secrets is," said Lockhart. "There's nothing I can do."

"You're in luck. We think we know where it is. And what's inside it. Let's go," said Harry.

And with that they went to Myrtle's bathroom. Sophie caught sight of the new message on the wall, _Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever_...Was there any hope?

"Go on," she said to Lockhart harshly as they reached the entrance of the bathroom. She, Harry and Ron had their wands pointed at him. He entered first, very much against his will.

"Oh, it's you," said Moaning Myrtle as they entered. "What do you want this time?"

Harry answered her, "To ask you how you died."

"Ooooh, it was dreadful. It happened right in here. I died in this very cubicle," Myrtle said happily. "I remember it so well. Id hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. A different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then - I died."

"How?"

"No idea. I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes. My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating away . . . .And then I came back again. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby, you see. Oh, she was sorry she'd ever laughed at my glasses."

"Where exactly did you see the eyes?" said Harry.

Myrtle indicated the sink in front of her toilet. "Somewhere there."

Sophie, Harry and Ron examined the sink. It looked like a normal sink as far as Sophie could tell, but then Harry said, "Look!" He was pointing at the image of a small snake engraved onto one of the taps.

"That tap's never worked," put in Myrtle.

"This is it," breathed Sophie. "Oh God, it all fits."

"Harry, say something," directed Ron. "Something in Parseltongue."

"But -" Harry started to protest, then stopped. He looked at the snake

Harry spoke, "Open up."

"English," Ron told him.

Harry refocused on the snake, this time moving his head back and forth oddly. He let out an alarming hissing noise.

Suddenly the tap was shining with light and turned quickly around and around. The sink began to descend and disappeared from view, leaving only a large open pipe. Ron gasped.

"I'm going down there," Harry said, a determined glint in his eye.

Sophie nodded.

"Me too," said Ron.

"Well, you hardly seem to need me. I'll just -" Sophie had almost forgotten Lockhart was there, but Harry and Ron were quick to point their wands at him.

Ron said, "You can go first."

"What good will it do?" asked Lockhart desperately as he lowered himself into the pipe. "I really don't think -" Ron pushed him and he went down.

Harry went in after him, followed by Ron.

Sophie took a deep breath and lowered herself into the pipe, letting go and falling into the darkness before she had a chance to change her mind.

She couldn't see much of anything inside the pipe, and it was terribly eerie to go on sliding down and down further knowing that somewhere on the other end there was a creature that could kill via eye contact. She began wondering how they would ever be able to get out of the Chamber again as this pipe seemed designed only to bring people down, not back up. Finally, however, the pipe ended and she came out the nether end and landed on the wet floor. Straightening up she could make out the shapes of Harry, Ron and Lockhart and could see that they were standing in a tunnel, so they weren't quite in the Chamber of Secrets yet.

"All right, Sophie?" Harry asked her.

"Yeah," she said, drawing her wand.

"_Lumos_! C'mon," said Harry and the other three followed him. Sophie was walking closest behind Harry with Ron behind her and Lockhart behind him.

"Remember, any sign of movement, close your eyes right away..." Harry reminded them all.

Sophie swallowed hard. She could never remember being this frightened before. The idea that a basilisk could appear at any moment and kill them all...she shuddered and forced herself to think of Ginny.

"Harry," began Ron. "There's something up there -"

Sophie looked ahead and could see what Ron meant: there was an enormous shadow outlined on the wall up ahead that resembled a great snake. It was still.

Harry speculated, "Maybe it's asleep." He bravely edged forwards and shone his wandlight over the object.

"Blimey," said Ron. It was a snake skin that had obviously belonged to a gigantic serpent.

A thud behind her made Sophie look round. Lockhart had fallen to the ground in a faint.

"Get up," Ron told him.

He obeyed, but then he lunged at Ron, tackling him and wresting his wand from his grip. He pointed it at them, triumphant.

"The adventure ends here! I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body," said Lockhart. "Say good-bye to your memories! _ Obliviate_!"

Ron's wand exploded, causing the tunnel to tremble. Harry and Sophie both put their arms over their heads and ran to avoid the pieces of falling rock and debris. The hailstorm of stone ended just as suddenly as it had began and Sophie found herself alone with Harry beside a rock wall.

"Ron!" she called. Harry joined in. "Ron! Are you OK? Ron!"

"I'm here! I'm OK." They could hear Ron's voice coming from the other side of the pile of stone. "This git's not, though - he got blasted by the wand...What now? We can't get through - it'll take ages..."

"Wait there. Wait with Lockhart," said Harry. "We'll go on... If we're not back in an hour..." He didn't finish his sentence.

"I'll try and shift some of this rock. So you can - can get back through. And, Sophie, Harry -"

"See you in a bit," Harry responded.

"We'll be back soon, Ron," said Sophie, trying desperately to believe her own words.

There was nothing else to do now but for she and Harry to make their way along the tunnel by themselves. They didn't speak. The tunnel went on for what seemed like forever but Sophie was not especially eager to come to the end of it. Eventually, however, a wall appeared ahead with two engraved snakes with eerie green eyes.

"This is it," she breathed. Her hand shook so she could hardly keep her wand still and she was suddenly intensely aware of the pitter pattering of her heart.

Harry cautiously walked up to the door (at least, Sophie assumed it was the door to the Chamber) and Sophie crept behind him. Harry made the same hissing guttural sounds that he had made back in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom (how far away that seemed now!)

A crack appeared in the wall and it split itself in half, leaving enough space for Sophie and Harry to walk through. Sophie grabbed Harry's hand briefly, steeling herself, and he squeezed her hand in return. They walked together into the Chamber of Secrets.


	14. The Sword and the Fang

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**The Sword and the Fang**

The Chamber of Secrets was a long, narrow, shadowy room lit by candlelight. Sophie couldn't see the shadow of a basilisk, but that did not make her feel much better.

"Do you see Ginny?" she whispered to Harry.

He shook his head and started to cautiously walk forward. Sophie followed, her wand out, reminding herself to shut her eyes if she saw any strange movement.

The Chamber was lined with great stone pillars and at last Sophie and Harry crept far enough along so that they could see, near the end of the room, a tall stone statue of a bearded wizard: Salazar Slytherin, Sophie recognized him from a picture she had once seen.

Sophie's glanced briefly at Slytherin's stone face before bringing her eyes back down to their usual level and saw, at the foot of the statue-

She gasped and ran forward.

"Ginny!" Harry cried, following behind her.

Sophie reached Ginny first and turned her over so that they could see her face. She was unconscious. "Oh, Ginny," she moaned. "Oh, God, Ginny-"

"Ginny," Harry knelt next to Ginny. "Don't be dead - please don't be dead -Ginny, please wake up."

Sophie felt Ginny's wrist. "Harry, I think - I think she has a pulse!"

"Does she?" Harry sounded slightly relieved. "Then why won't she-?"

"She won't wake," came a strange voice from behind them.

Sophie nearly leapt out of her skin and turned around. To her astonishment, a teenage boy was standing there, watching Harry and her. How long had he been there? He was tall with dark hair, but he didn't look quite right. He looked...out of focus, somehow.

"Tom - Tom Riddle?" asked Harry. The boy nodded. Sophie was stunned. The orphan boy who'd been at Hogwarts over fifty years ago and knew about the Chamber? What was he doing here? _How_ was he here?

"What d'you mean, she won't wake? She's not - she's not -?"

"She's still alive, but only just." said Riddle.

"Are you a ghost?" asked Harry.

Riddle responded, "A memory, preserved in a diary for fifty years." He indicated a space just a few feet away from them. The diary was there. Sophie stared at it, wondering how it had ended up there. Then, all of a sudden, something clicked inside her head. Of course: the diary had been stolen by a Gryffindor, here was Ginny in the Chamber and the diary was here too...Ginny had taken it...She shook her head to clear it. She didn't understand what connection there was between Ginny and the diary, but she knew Ginny's life hanging in the balance was the weightier matter at the moment.

Harry knew it too: "You've got to help us, Tom. We've got to get her out of here. There's a basilisk ... I don't know where it is, but it could be along any moment... Please, help us..."

Sophie and Harry tried to lift Ginny off the floor with minute success. Harry reached for something, then looked up at Riddle.

"Did you see -?" Harry asked. He and Sophie glanced up at Riddle. Riddle had not moved to help them and was holding Harry's wand casually.

"Thanks," Harry said, evidently thinking Riddle would hand it to him. He didn't.

"Listen, we've got to go! If the basilisk comes -"

"It won't come until it is called," Riddle intoned.

"What d'you mean? Look," said Harry. "Give me my wand, I might need it -"

"You won't be needing it," Riddle smiled. Then he raised Harry's wand and pointed it at Sophie.

"_Expelliarmus_!"

Sophie's wand shot out of her hand. "Hey!" she shouted. "What're you doing?" Harry had seemed to trust this boy, almost to think of him as a friend, but he was acting so bizarrely.

"Tom, why'd you -?" Harry tried.

Riddle ignored Sophie and spoke directly to Harry. "I've waited a long time for this, Harry Potter. For the chance to see you. To speak to you."

"Look, I don't think you get it," Harry was angry now. "We're in the _Chamber of Secrets_. We can talk later -"

"We're going to talk now."

"Can we not talk while there's a basilisk around?" asked Sophie. "Can't we just take Ginny and get out of here?" She thought of Ron, far along the passage, probably still shifting rock.

Riddle did not acknowledge Sophie but kept his eyes focused on Harry. "We're going to talk now," he repeated.

Sophie, feeling alarmed, exchanged a glance with Harry. He, too, seemed confused and gave a sort of half-shrug.

"How did Ginny get like this?" said Harry.

"Well, that's an interesting question. And quite a long story," Riddle's voice was conversational. "I suppose the real reason Ginny Weasley's like this is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger."

"What are you talking about?" Harry, but Sophie had an idea.

"The diary?" she guessed.

"My diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes_-" _Riddle described how Ginny had poured out all her worries and woes to him in the diary, how he had comforted her. "Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted... I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her. . ."

"What d'you mean?"

"Haven't you guessed yet, Harry Potter? Ginny Weasley opened the Chamber of Secrets. She strangled the school roosters and daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set the serpent of Slytherin on four Mudbloods, and the Squib's cat."

"What?" asked Sophie softly.

"No," replied Harry.

"Yes. Of course, she didn't know what she was doing at first. It was very amusing...It took a very long time for stupid little Ginny to stop trusting her diary, but she finally became suspicious and tried to dispose of it. And that's where you came in, Harry. You found it, and I couldn't have been more delighted. Of all the people who could have picked it up, it was you, the very person I was most anxious to meet..."

"And why did you want to meet me?" demanded Harry.

"Well, you see," Riddle continued. "Ginny told me all about you, Harry. Your whole fascinating history. I knew I must find out more about you, talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my famous capture of that great oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust...I admit, even I was surprised how well the plan worked. I thought someone must realize that Hagrid couldn't possibly be the Heir of Slytherin...only the Transfiguration teacher, Dumbledore, seemed to think Hagrid was innocent. He persuaded Dipper to keep Hagrid and train him as gamekeeper. Yes, I think Dumbledore might have guessed...Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the other teachers did ...he certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after Hagrid was expelled. I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school. But I wasn't going to waste those long years I'd spent searching for it. I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that one day, with luck, I would be able to lead another in my footsteps, and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."

Harry told Riddle about the Mandrakes, how he actually hadn't managed to kill anyone this time.

"Haven't I already told you," said Riddle quietly, "That killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. For many months now, my new target has been -you."

Sophie watched Riddle, transfixed, and felt a shiver go up her spine.

"...It was clear to me that you were on the trail of Slytherin's heir. From everything Ginny had told me about you, I knew you would go to any lengths to solve the mystery -particularly if one of your best friends was attacked. And Ginny had told me the whole school was buzzing because you could speak Parseltongue ...So I made Ginny write her own farewell on the wall and come down here to wait. She struggled and cried and became very boring. But there isn't much life left in her... She put too much into the diary, into me. Enough to let me leave its pages at last... I have been waiting for you to appear since we arrived here. I knew you'd come. I have many questions for you, Harry Potter."

"Like what?" Harry had let go of Ginny and was holding his hands in fists. Sophie still held Ginny by her shoulders. She kept one hand on the younger girl's wrist; the feeling of Ginny's pulse kept her only slightly reassured.

"Well, how is it that you a skinny boy with no extraordinary magical talent - managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time?" inquired Riddle. "How did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"

The sound of You Know Who's name being spoken aloud jarred Sophie and she flinched. Harry was virtually the only person she had ever heard speak it out loud.

"Why do you care how I escaped? Voldemort was after your time..."

"Voldemort is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter..." Riddle then did something quite strange. He used Harry's wand to write letters in mid-air. He wrote the words:

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

With more wand movements the letters scattered and formed new words:

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

"You see? It was a name I was already using at Hogwarts, to my most intimate friends only, of course. You think I was going to use my filthy Muggle father's name forever? I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, through my mother's side. I, keep the name of a foul, common Muggle, who abandoned me even before I was born, just because he found out his wife was a witch? No, Harry - I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I had become the greatest sorcerer in the world!"

Sophie was beyond shocked. It was _him_, all this time, the heir of Slytherin, _T.M. Riddle_, _his_ diary, the one who had terrorized the wizarding community during a decade her parents still talked about, the one her assorted relatives served...was this handsome sixteen year-old orphan boy. It was _him_...Voldemort..._Voldemort._

She glanced at Harry. He appeared just as astonished as she and seemed to be at a loss for words. She looked into Riddle's face. He looked gleeful, triumphant, drunk with his own words. She couldn't stand it.

Taking a deep breath, she said, "You're not that great."

Riddle looked for the first time at Sophie. 'What are you talking about?" he spat.

Sophie struggled to remain calm. She couldn't believe to whom she was actually speaking. She gripped Ginny's wrist. "You're...you're just a killer. A regular criminal. You haven't done anything - anything _right_...You were destroying the wizarding world...And Dumbledore-"

"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere _memory_ of me!" insisted Riddle.

"He's not as gone as you might think!" exclaimed Harry. Sophie gasped. Harry's words had reminded her: _You will find that I will only _truly_ have left this school when none here are loyal to me. _What did it mean? What else had Dumbledore said? _You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it_.

Suddenly Sophie heard the last thing she expected to hear at that moment: music. It was beautiful, in Sophie's opinion and it seemed to have a strengthening effect upon her. The air seemed to swell and tingle with every note. Fire appeared at the top of one of the pillars and a bird Sophie recognized as a phoenix appeared there. It flew to Harry and Sophie, dropping a strange object in front of them and then perching on Harry's shoulder.

"That's a phoenix," Riddle stated unnecessarily. "And _that_ - that's the old school Sorting Hat -" Only then did Sophie recognize that this was so. What on earth had the phoenix brought it for?

"This is what Dumbledore sends his defender! A songbird and an old hat!" Riddle's laughs echoed eerily off the walls of the Chamber. "Do you feel brave, Harry Potter? Do you feel safe now? To business, Harry, twice - in _your_ past, in _my_ future - we have met. And twice I failed to kill you. _How did you survive_? Tell me everything. The longer you talk the longer you stay alive."

Sophie swallowed hard. This may be only a memory of Voldemort, but he had two wands, they none and apparently he would be able to -_would-_ kill them all. She supposed the only reason Riddle hadn't killed her yet was because he was distracted by Harry, but, having heard what she had about him, she could not imagine he would ever leave her alive. She wondered briefly about her parents and how they would react to her murder.

"No one knows why you lost your powers when you attacked me. I don't know myself But I know why you couldn't _kill_ me. Because my mother died to save me. My common _Muggle-born_ mother. She stopped you killing me. And I've seen the real you, I saw you last year. You're a wreck. You're barely alive. That's where all your power got you. You're in hiding. You're ugly, you're foul!"

"So," said Riddle. "Your mother died to save you. Yes, that's a powerful counter-charm. I can see now ... there is nothing special about you, after all. I wondered, you see. There are strange likenesses between us, after all. Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, orphans, raised by Muggles. Probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself We even look something alike ..."

Sophie flinched slightly. Anyone could see the truth of Riddle's words: he and Harry did share a number of similarities. She couldn't help being reminded of her aunt and how she sometimes felt there was something wrong with her for bearing a resemblance...did Harry ever feel that way too?

"...But after all, it was merely a lucky chance that saved you from me. That's all I wanted to know. Now, Harry, I'm going to teach you a little lesson. Let's match the powers of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against famous Harry Potter, a little girl and the best weapons Dumbledore can give him . . . ."

Riddle walked over to the statue of Salazar Slytherin and hissed making the same sort of noises Sophie had heard Harry make before. She glanced at him, and then quickly back at the Slytherin statue. The figure's mouth was opening and there was a strange slithering sound coming from the depths of the dark tunnel inside...

This was it, Sophie thought. The basilisk. She and Harry had only moments to live. Instinctively, they grabbed each other's hands and both shut their eyes.

The floor shook as it bore the basilisk's weight and Sophie and Harry walked blindly backwards, squeezing each other's hand. Riddle hissed again and Sophie could sense the basilisk move towards them. Still gripping hands tightly, Harry and Sophie started to run away from the serpent, but tripped. Sophie fought hard her instinct to open her eyes and see where they were, where they could go, knowing that she would likely die the moment she did so: she could sense the basilisk was very near now and wondered how terrible it would be to be sliced with the serpent's poisonous fangs and how long it would take to die. She held Harry's hand, and he hers, as though it were a lifeline. It would be all the more terrible to die alone in that way, unable to see, unable to feel anything but the monster's fangs tearing her flesh...

"Sophie!" Harry called. "Sophie, open your eyes, Fawkes blinded the basilisk!"

Sophie did open her eyes, very slowly and cautiously, but eventually she saw that Harry was right: the phoenix had blinded the basilisk and it wouldn't be able to kill them on sight anymore. At least now they could see. The sight, however, was truly terrifying: Riddle was hissing violently at the basilisk as it swayed back and forth, blood from its eyeballs running down in great streams, its massive body, sweeping back and forth across the Chamber...

CRASH. The flailing basilisk had smashed into one of the pillars and it crumbled, stone pieces flying towards Sophie and Harry. Harry leaped out of the way just in time, but Sophie was a second too slow and ended up being pinned by the stone against the wall. Mercifully, she was unharmed, only trapped. The basilisk's body was between her and Harry, however, and he could not reach her to pull her out. She also could not see him very well.

"Harry!" she screamed. "_Harry_!"

Unable to see Harry properly, Sophie set to struggling to get herself out from behind the slab of stone. Riddle was hissing again, and as she looked up to try and see if she could catch a glimpse of Harry, she saw a gleam of silver flash through the air. What on earth was going on?

Finally, after forcing all her weight against the stone, Sophie managed to move it enough to wriggle herself free. Just as soon as she was free, however, the basilisk fell to the ground, wounded. It was writhing about on the ground and Sophie guessed that it had been dealt a deathblow. But how-?

Then she saw Harry. He was against the wall opposite her and had -Sophie's heart seemed to miss a few beats- a fang sticking out of his arm. He pulled it out as Sophie ran to him.

"Harry," she said. "Oh, _Harry..."_

"Sophie..." murmured Harry, who was obviously in terrible pain. "Are you...OK?"

"Yes," said Sophie. "But never mind me. You killed the basilisk, Harry!"

"Yeah...the sword...it came out of the Sorting Hat." To Sophie's horror, Harry keeled over to the side. She held him by the shoulders, cradling him as his strength rapidly left him and he was unable to hold himself up. His eyes were unfocused and Sophie saw drops of water appear on his face, only to realize they were her own tears falling on him.

Fawkes, the phoenix, was flying towards them, something black in its beak. It landed next to them and dropped the black thing -which Sophie could now see was Riddle's diary- next to her, then stood before Harry.

"Fawkes..." Harry murmured as Fawkes put his head on Harry's arm. "You were fantastic, Fawkes . . . ."

Sophie had almost forgotten Riddle's presence, but was unpleasantly reminded of it as he approached her and Harry.

"You're dead, Harry Potter. Dead. Even Dumbledore's bird knows it," Riddle spoke in a terribly cold and satisfied voice. "Do you see what he's doing, Potter? He's crying, just like your friend. I'm going to sit here and watch you die, Harry Potter. Take your time. I'm in no hurry. So ends the famous Harry Potter, alone in the Chamber of Secrets, defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged."

Sophie gripped Harry closer. "Not alone," she whispered to him, unable to stop her voice from breaking a little. Riddle ignored her.

"You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry... She bought you twelve years of borrowed time ... but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must . . . ."

Sophie didn't see it at first. She was focused on Harry's face, but soon she glanced at Fawkes and saw, to her amazement, that Fawkes' tears were indeed falling on Harry's wounded arm, but the strange thing was, the wound was getting smaller, it was going _away..._

"Get away, bird. Get away from him," Riddle pointed both Harry and Sophie's wands at Fawkes. - I said, _get away_-" Fawkes retreated, flying away to somewhere outside Sophie's range of vision. Harry seemed to recover some of his strength and sat up, as Sophie relinquished her hold on him. As they moved apart a little, Sophie's hand brushed the basilisk's fang that Harry had pulled out of his arm.

"Phoenix tears...Of course ... healing powers ... I forgot...But it makes no difference," said Riddle. He directed the wands at Harry now. Sophie's mouth felt very dry. Harry had been healed from the poison only to be killed by a curse and she had no doubt that she and Ginny would soon follow. Sickened, she glanced downwards, away from Riddle's face, and caught sight of the diary on the floor right in front of her. "In fact, I prefer it this way. Just you and me, Harry Potter ... you and me..."

In years to come, Sophie could never say what had made her do it, though she was asked, and asked herself, many times. She could never remember the thoughts that had gone through her head in the moments before. All she knew was that she was staring at the diary in front of her, her left hand brushed up against the fang Harry had thrown to the floor. Within the space of a second, she glanced once at Riddle who was focused on Harry and didn't seem remotely aware of her presence, much less what she was about to do, then grabbed hold of the fang and drove it into the diary's cover.

Ink, more ink that Sophie would have thought it was possible for the book to hold, streamed out of it and Riddle was screaming; he seemed to be in terrible pain, but this lasted only for moments as, suddenly, and without warning, he disappeared completely.

Harry and Sophie's wands were on the floor and the diary had a conspicuous hole burned into the front of it. Sophie's hand was still holding the fang in the cover. Slowly, she removed it. Harry was staring in shock.

"What..." he started. "Did you do that for?"

Sophie shook her head, staring in astonishment at the diary. "I have no idea."

She looked up at Harry and they just stared at each other for a few moments.

"That was-" he started.

"I know," said Sophie.

Harry stood up and collected his and Sophie's wands, returning Sophie's to her. Sophie stood as well, picking up the diary. Harry went over to the basilisk and pulled an ornately bejeweled sword from the serpent's mouth.

"Harry, that sword..." said Sophie.

"Yeah," replied Harry. "I'll explain."

But at that moment there came a sound from the other end of the Chamber. They both looked down the length of the room and saw a black figure stirring.

"Ginny!" exclaimed Sophie. She and Harry ran to her. Ginny sat up and blinked a few times, taking in the sight of Sophie, Harry and the dead basilisk.

"Harry, Sophie - oh, Harry - I tried to tell you at b-breakfast," Ginny was bawling. "But I c-couldn't say it in front of Percy - it was me, - but I - I s-swear I d- didn't mean to - R-Riddle made me, he t-took me over - and - how did you kill that - that thing? W-where's Riddle? The last thing I r- remember is him coming out of the diary -"

" It's all right. Riddle's finished. Look! Him _and_ the Basilisk," said Harry. "C'mon, Ginny, let's get out of here -"

Sophie helped Ginny to stand. "You're OK?" she asked her, but Ginny had dissolved into tears.

"I'm going to be expelled! I've looked forward to coming to Hogwarts ever since B-Bill came and n-now I'll have to leave and - _w-what'll Mum and Dad say_?"


	15. Fear of a Name

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**Fear of a Name**

Sophie need not have worried how they were going to get back up to the school. Fawkes, as it turned out, was able to lift herself, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Lockhart off the ground easily and bring them back up to Myrtle's bathroom. The latter had been hit hard with his own Memory Charm and could no longer remember who he was. Sophie thought him greatly improved.

She was somewhat surprised, once they were back in the school and walking through the corridors to Professor McGonagall's office to see that it was pitch black outside. As it had been afternoon when they had entered the Chamber, she hadn't really given much thought to the amount of time they had taken up down there.

Eventually their party reached the office and Harry knocked on the door. It occurred to Sophie how odd they must look: all of them were filthy and she and Harry were covered in blood and ink to boot. The door opened.

"_Ginny!_" A redheaded woman and man whom Sophie assumed to be Ron and Ginny's parents both ran to Ginny and pulled her into a tight embrace. Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore stood there, as well.

"You saved her!" cried the woman. "You saved her! _How_ did you do it?"

Professor McGonagall concurred. "I think we'd all like to know that."

None of them spoke at first. Harry placed the sword on Professor McGonagall's desk while Sophie and Ron exchanged a glance. How on earth were they ever going to explain?

"It's...sort of a long story..." said Sophie.

Harry took a deep breath. "It started last October when I started hearing this strange voice. It came from inside the walls and it kept saying it wanted to kill-"

"And Ron, Hermione and I could never hear it," Ron broke in. Harry nodded.

"But eventually, Hermione realized, because I'm a Parselmouth, that it was a Basilisk I was hearing and that it was travelling around the school in the pipes. She was just coming back from the library where she'd found this out when she was Petrified before she'd had a chance to tell anyone. Hagrid told Ron, Sophie and me, before he was taken to Azkaban, that we should 'follow the spiders'-"

"We'd been noticing spiders running away whenever there was an attack," said Sophie.

"Yeah," continued Harry. "So we did like Hagrid said and we followed the spiders into the Forbidden Forest where we met Aragog, who's a giant spider-"

"An Acromantula," interrupted Sophie. Dumbledore was watching them calmly, but Professor McGonagall's eyebrows were in danger of disappearing into her hairline and the Weasley parents both looked astonished.

"Right, an Acromantula. And he told us that the last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, fifty years ago, a girl was killed in a bathroom. I guessed that Moaning Myrtle -she's a ghost that haunts one of the girls' toilets- might have been the girl that was killed, and when we were visiting Hermione in the hospital wing we found a piece f paper in her hand from a library book that explained all about the Basilisk in the pipes and the we guessed that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets might be in her bathroom, so we went in there this afternoon and found the entrance was in one of the sinks. I told it to open in Parseltongue and it did, and we went down into it and found Ginny in the Chamber."

"Very well, so you found out where the entrance was - breaking a hundred school rules into pieces along the way, I might add," said Professor McGonagall. "But how on _earth_ did you all get out of there alive, Potter?"

Harry sighed, clearly weary from saying so much, so Sophie replied instead, "Well, the tunnel leading to the Chamber collapsed a bit while we were walking through it and it separated us, with Ron and Professor Lockhart on one side and Harry and me on the other. Ron started shifting rock so that we would be able to get back through and Harry and I went on, into the Chamber, and Harry killed the Basilisk with that sword." She pointed to it.

"It came out of the Sorting Hat," Harry explained. "Fawkes flew down and brought the Sorting Hat. The Basilisk pierced me with one of its fangs before I managed to kill it with the sword and the Fawkes cried onto my arm and his tears healed me..." Harry's voice trailed off and he looked questioningly at Sophie. Should they mention anything about the diary? Finally, Dumbledore spoke and answered this question for them.

"What interests _me_ most is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently in hiding in the forests of Albania."

"W- what's that? _You Know Who_? En-enchant _Ginny_?" cried Ginny's father. "But Ginny's not ... Ginny hasn't been ... has she?"

"It was this thing," said Sophie. "It's his diary from fifty years ago." She approached Dumbledore and handed him the pierced diary.

Dumbledore gazed intently at the mutilated book. "Brilliant. Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen. Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle..." Dumbledore explained to them all how Riddle had practiced the Dark Arts after leaving Hogwarts, completing his metamorphosis into Voldemort and few knew that he and Tom Riddle were the same person.

Mrs. Weasley asked, "But, Ginny, what's our Ginny got to do with - with - _him_?"

Ginny finally burst out, "His d-diary! I've b-been writing in it, and he's been w-writing back all year -"

"_Ginny_! Haven't I taught you _anything?_" Mr. Weasley asked. "What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself _if you can't see where it keeps its brain_. Why didn't you show the diary to me, or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was _clearly_ full of Dark Magic!"

"I d-didn't know. I found it inside one of the books Mum got me. I th-thought someone had just left it in there and forgotten about it -"

"Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing right away. This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment," stated Dumbledore. "Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort. Bed rest and perhaps a large, steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up. You will find that Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She's just giving out Mandrake juice - I daresay the Basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment."

"So Hermione's OK!" piped up Ron.

"There has been no lasting harm done," Dumbledore confirmed as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley left with Ginny. "You know, Minerva, I think all this merits a good _feast_. Might I ask you to go and alert the kitchens?"

"Right. I'll leave you to deal with Potter, Tonks and Weasley, shall I?" said Professor McGonagall.

"Certainly," said Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall left.

"I seem to remember telling you both," Dumbledore indicated Harry and Ron. "That I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules...Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words. You will all receive Special Awards for Services to the School and - let me see - yes, I think two hundred points apiece for Gryffindor. But one of us seems to be keeping mightily quiet about his part in this dangerous adventure. Why so modest, Gilderoy?"

"Professor Dumbledore, there was an accident down in the Chamber of Secrets," said Ron. "Professor Lockhart -"

"Am I a professor? Goodness. I expect I was hopeless, was I?"

Sophie couldn't quite manage to suppress a grin.

"He tried to do a Memory Charm," continued Ron. "And the wand backfired."

"Dear me, impaled upon your own sword, Gilderoy!"

"Sword? Haven't got a sword. That boy has, though. He'll lend you one."

"Would the two of you mind taking Professor Lockhart up to the hospital wing too? I'd like a few more words with Harry," said Dumbledore to Sophie and Ron.

Sophie and Ron led Lockhart out of the office and up towards the hospital wing. "What d'you suppose he wants to talk to Harry about?" asked Ron.

Sophie shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Yeah..." Ron's voice trailed off for a moment. Then, "I thought for a second we were going to be expelled!"

Sophie laughed for what seemed like the first time in ages. "I did for a moment as well, but they _couldn't_ have. Not after what we did."

"Yeah, Special Awards for Services to the School!" said Ron. "I suppose we'll have our names on trophies and everything..._this_ way," he added sternly to Lockhart, steering him around the corner into the corridor that led to the hospital wing.

"Come one," said Sophie, quickening her pace. "Let's see Hermione and then we can all go to the feast."

Ron beamed at her as they pushed open the door to the hospital wing.

The blazing sun shone brilliantly over the Hogwarts' grounds that June and Sophie felt exceptionally light-hearted compared to how she had felt the rest of the year. She, Harry and Ron had Hermione back with them, restored to perfect health, Harry had tricked Lucius Malfoy (who had recently been dismissed from the board of governors) into setting Dobby, who turned out to be the Malfoy family house-elf, free and Draco was looking extremely sulky. Exams had been omitted and they were simply being promoted to the third year. Sophie, Harry and Ron's points had secured the house cup for Gryffindor again and Lockhart had gone away to be treated for his memory loss. All these happy events had made it easier for Sophie to drive the terror of the Chamber's events from her mind, at least for now. In fact, outside in the sunlight with her three best friends, she almost had difficulty believing they had ever happened at all.

"What was it like, Hermione?" Sophie asked as they sat by the edge of the lake one afternoon. "Being Petrified all that time?"

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know, really. The last thing I remember was seeing the basilisk's eyes in the mirror and then, the next thing I knew I was waking up in the hospital wing weeks later."

Ron shook his head. "Mad, how you don't remember anything in between."

"It was brilliant of you to think of using a mirror at all, though," commented Harry.

"Well, never mind all that," said Hermione. "Harry, you and Sophie were the ones who did the most. I still can't believe T.M. Riddle was You Know Who."

Harry nodded. "Neither could we."

Sophie was staring across the lake at nothing in particular. "Sophie?" asked Hermione tentatively. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah..." Sophie returned her gaze to her friends. "Sorry, it's still a little...it's just hard to believe I've actually met him. Voldemort."

Harry nodded while Hermione and Ron both winced.

"Sophie, d'you have to -" Ron started.

Sophie cut him off. "Yes," she said, seriously. "Yes, I think I do. I've seen him and heard him talk and know what he's like now. It just doesn't seem right not to call him by his name anymore. What did Dumbledore tell you at the end of last year again, Harry? 'Fear of a name-' "

" 'Only increases fear of the thing itself,' " Harry finished. Hermione and Ron still looked doubtful.

"I think he's right," said Sophie simply.


	16. Telephones and Newspapers

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. No profit is being made and no copyright infringement is intended. _

**Telephones and Newspapers**

_The ground shook beneath her as the horrible hissing noise drew nearer. She couldn't see: all was sheer blackness. She was a moment away from being pierced and killed, and Harry...where was Harry? She had lost hold of his hand and Sophie panicked as she groped in the darkness...she smashed her head into something hard and could hear someone calling her name from far off..._

"Sophronia!"

Sophie opened her eyes, her head throbbing. Her bedroom was dark, but there was a small light illuminating the darkness. She squinted and saw her mother there, the tip of her wand alight.

"Are you all right?" Mrs. Tonks asked her.

"Uhhh..." groaned Sophie. She put a hand to her head. "What happened?"

"You were thrashing around and hit your head on your headboard," Mrs. Tonks told her. "Another nightmare?"

Sophie nodded. "The same one." They had been coming back again and again over the past couple weeks.

Mrs. Tonks sighed. "I still can't believe what you and those boys did."

"Someone had to, Mum," Sophie murmured. "We weren't trying to be stupid or anything."

"I know," said her mother. She considered her daughter for a moment. "I'll get you something for your head."

Sophie grimaced, resting her sore head carefully on her pillow as Mrs. Tonks left the room. Although Mrs. Tonks did not work as a Healer like Mr. Tonks did, she too had training in Healing and their home housed a variety of potions for healing injuries and illnesses.

Mrs. Tonks soon returned with a cup of potion that would cure Sophie's sore head. "And I found we had some of this stored away," she said, producing a second cup. "A potion for a dreamless sleep."

Sophie drank both. "Thanks, Mum." Mrs. Tonks left.

Sophie lay back down again, her head feeling perfectly fine. She wished she could stop visiting the Chamber of Secrets in her dreams. She could not come up with a reasonable explanation as to why she kept dwelling on it: it was over and she, Harry and Ginny were all right. Still, her mind at night continually returned to her memories of the Basilisk nearly killing Harry and herself. Her parents had been shocked when she'd told them what had happened and thoroughly relieved that she was safe, but still, neither of them had been in such a situation and Sophie didn't feel like reliving the details with them. She wanted to talk with someone who could identify with her...she wanted to talk with _Harry_, she thought, drifting off into sleep.

Ron had written the other day, explaining how he'd attempted to telephone Harry at his aunt and uncle's house, only to have Harry's uncle shout at him never to call again after Ron had explained that he was Harry's friend from school. Ron said in his letter that he didn't think it would be a good idea for either Sophie or Hermione to attempt to call Harry. That was not going to stop Sophie, however. Sophie understood that Harry's relatives did not like magic or Hogwarts and thought it was perhaps Ron's mentioning of their school that had set Harry's uncle off. If she was going to brave the telephone, then she would have to think what she was going to say. How would she explain how she knew Harry if she couldn't mention Hogwarts? She racked her brains. It sounded like Harry's relatives were quite restrictive with him, where might he have met someone? Surely he must sometimes interact with the neighbours...couldn't she have innocently met him one day when out for a walk or something?

Well, she thought, the worst thing that could happen is I won't get to talk to Harry, so I'd be no worse off than I am now. She decided to try.

Sophie walked into the kitchen where her mother was enchanting the silverware to clean themselves. "Is Dad home yet?" she asked.

"Not yet," Mrs. Tonks glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. "But I expect he will be soon."

"Oh. Well, do you think he knows how to use a telephone?"

"A what?"

"A telephone," Sophie pronounced the word carefully, imitating the way Harry and Hermione said it. "It's that thing Muggles use to talk to each other from far away."

"Oh," said Mrs. Tonks, though she still looked a little confused. "Perhaps. Why do you ask?"

Sophie opened her mouth to explain when a _CRACK_ suddenly resounded outside.

"There he is," said Mrs. Tonks. Sophie hurried to the door and opened it.

"Hi Dad," she greeted Mr. Tonks as he stepped inside.

"Hi Sophie," he tousled his daughter's hair before kissing his wife in greeting. "Hello Dromeda?"

"How were things at the hospital today?" asked Mrs. Tonks.

"Busy," Mr. Tonks replied. "There was a cauldron explosion accident in an apothecary today and a few dozen people were injured...they're all fine now, we fixed them up, but it took quite a while, they were queuing up past the front desk."

"Dad," Sophie began. "Do you know how to use a telephone?"

"A telephone," asked her father, looking at her curiously. "Sure do, used one all the time when I was a kid. What makes you ask?"

"Well," Sophie pulled a slip of parchment out of her pocket. "You know Harry lives with his Muggle relatives, and he gave me his telephone number at the end of last year so that I could call him at his place."

"Can't you just write him a letter?" asked Mrs. Tonks, her brow slightly furrowed. "I don't know that I like the sound of this - this _telephone_."

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Of course I _can_ send him a letter, but then we wouldn't be able to hear each other's voices. It's like...like the Muggle version of the Floo. Right?" She looked questioningly at Mr. Tonks.

He smiled. "Sort of, only you can't see the person you're talking with. I don't see why she shouldn't Dromeda. There's a telephone up at the village Post Office. I could take her there and show her how to use the telephone."

Mrs. Tonks gave an assenting nod and Sophie and her father left soon afterwards for the Post Office.

Stratworth was a quiet, rural town and there were very few people about this afternoon as Sophie and Mr. Tonks made their way to the Post Office where there was, as Mr. Tonks had said, a telephone in the back.

"Pick this up," Mr. Tonks told her, pointing at the receiver. He was speaking quietly so the staff would not overhear them. "And then press these numbers here, hold this," he indicated the top part of the receiver, "To your ear, and talk into the bottom part.

"And I just talk normally?"

"That's right."

"Thanks, Dad," said Sophie.

"No problem. I'll be at home," and Mr. Tonks left.

Sophie carefully did as her father had instructed. A ringing noise sounded as she held the telephone to her ear. She hoped it hadn't gone wrong.

The ringing noise lasted only a few seconds before stopping and a voice she recognized well spoke into her ear:

"Hello?"

"Harry! It's me, Sophie, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, of course!" cried Harry. "I can't believe it, you're lucky the Dursleys are out; they normally never leave me alone in the house. You know how to use a telephone, then?"

"Dad showed me," Sophie replied. "Ron wrote the other day and said it didn't go so well for him."

"No, he was shouting through the receiver," said Harry. "You don't need to, see? We can hear each other perfectly fine."

"I know, this is amazing!" said Sophie. "So how've you been?"

"OK," said Harry. "My uncle locked up all my school stuff as soon as I got home, but I picked the lock and got it out so that I could do my homework. What about you?"

"Well, I've been doing my homework too," said Sophie. "But I keep thinking about...you know...what happened last term."

It was such a relief to hear Harry's voice, to be able to talk to him properly after what had transpired in the Chamber a few weeks ago. Finally, however, Harry had to end the conversation.

"I'd better go, my aunt and uncle could be back any minute."

"OK, Harry."

"Listen, Sophie, thanks so much for calling. This was great, you've got no idea-"

"Neither do you," said Sophie. "Thanks. I'm glad we could talk."

"Bye, Sophie."

"Goodbye, Harry."

There was a clicking sound and Sophie took the receiver away from her ear. She carefully placed it back in its original spot, hoping that was the right thing to do and left the Post Office feeling much more light-hearted than she had on entering it.

Several weeks later Sophie did not feel lighthearted at all. It all started one morning in late July when she woke up, got dressed and tossed a scroll of parchment on which she had been wtiting her History of Magic essay aside so that it was not covering a copy of the _Daily Prophet _ that bore a photograph of the Weasley family on it stating that Mr. Weasley had won the _Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw _beforecoming downstairs. There she found her mother standing in the kitchen, her back to Sophie as she read the morning _Prophet_.

"Morning, Mum," said Sophie, sitting down at the table. Her mother did not reply. "What's wrong?"

Mrs. Tonks seemed not to notice Sophie. She appeared strained and upset and gave a distracted little shake of her head. She soon put the paper down and left the room without saying anything. Confused by her mother's behaviour, Sophie leaned over, curious, and picked up the copy of the _Prophet_ Mrs. Tonks had been reading.

The headline read: "_BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN"_, and underneath there was a photograph of a man with messy, shoulder-length black hair framing a gaunt face. The caption proclaimed "_Mass-Murderer Black at Large."_

Sophie's stomach turned over. Horrified, she turned her gaze to the accompanying article.

_Last night, according to official Ministry sources, Sirius Black, 33, high security prisoner in wizard prisoner Azkaban for over eleven years was reported missing and is therefore deemed to be the first person ever to have escaped the prison. How Black escaped is unknown as of yet, however, he was first imprisoned for murdering thirteen people with a single curse in November of 1981 immediately after the disappearance of He Who Must Not Be Named, and it is believed likely that Black employed complex Dark magic in order to escape. _

"_The Auror Department is working tirelessly to recapture Black," said Cornelius Fudge this morning. "I encourage the wizarding public to remain calm and to rest assured that Black will be found and returned to Azkaban soon. I ask that any sign of Black should be reported to the proper authorities immediately."_

_There has been no word yet on whether or not the Minister plans to inform the Muggle Prime Minister of Black's escape, although a spokeswizard was quoted as saying-_

Sophie put the paper down. No wonder Mum was upset, she thought to herself. This man, this crazy, evil man that she used to know as a child was all of a sudden staring up at her out of the front page of the paper, having broken free of prison...why? And _how?_ That in itself was enough to rattle Sophie. _No one had broken out of Azkaban before_...Was he truly that evil? Had Black been close enough to Voldemort that he had taught him magic he had kept from all his other followers?

"What's going on?" Dora had entered the kitchen. "Mum's all out of sorts in her bedroom and Dad's in there with her- he says he's not going to work today. What's happened?"

"This," said Sophie, tossing the paper to Dora. Her sister read the article with wide eyes.

"Oh my God," she said, softly. "How horrible."

"No kidding," said Sophie, sitting down at the table. Dora joined her.

"I guess Dad's staying home to comfort Mum," said Dora. "It's no wonder she's upset. She always said she liked Sirius when she knew him, now to have all this dragged up again..."

Sophie nodded. "It's just so strange, though. How could he have broken out? They think Voldemort-"

Dora winced. "Sophie-" she complained.

"Taught him Dark magic to escape," Sophie continued, ignoring her sister's reaction. "But if that was true, why's it taken him so long to actually use it? And why would he know how to escape when none of the other Death Eaters seem to know how? The Lestranges and lots of others are still in there and they were followers for longer."

Dora shrugged. "We just don't know the circumstances of how Sirius became a Death Eater. Mum said he always seemed different and it came as a real shock when she heard he'd gone over to the Dark side. Mum said it was easy to see that Bellatrix was obsessed with You Know Who, but she never would have thought it of Sirius. He obviously must have changed dramatically since Mum knew him and became an even closer follower of You Know Who than some of the others."

Sophie glanced back down at her cousin's face staring up from the front page of the paper. "D'you think the Aurors will catch him soon?"

"Probably," said Dora, though she looked a bit unsure. "If everyone's looking for him, he _should_ be tracked down in no time..."

"He _shouldn't_ have been able to escape in the first place," Sophie pointed out. "He was a high security prisoner and everything."

"I know," admitted Dora.

Both were silent for a while. Neither sister wanted to voice any more of her thoughts on Sirius Black's escape. The only sound that could be heard in the house for a while was their mother's muffled sobs upstairs and their father's low murmuring voice attempting to offer words of comfort.

**Thank you all SO much for reading, reviewing and following. I hope you enjoy the upcoming PoA-era fics, although it's going to be a rather uncomfortable year for Sophie...**


	17. An Azkaban Guard

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

"Hermione! Ron!" Sophie called to two figures, one tanned and bushy-haired, the other gangly and even more freckled than usual. She caught up to them outside the scarlet steam engine.

"Hi Sophie!" they returned. Ginny was with them as well.

"Hey, Ginny," said Sophie. "Seen Harry yet?" she asked Hermione and Ron.

"He's just over there" Ron nodded towards a spot along the platform a little ways where Harry was talking to a man Sophie recognized as Ron's father. "We were all staying at the Leaky Cauldron together for the last few days."

"Were you really?" asked Sophie as the three of them climbed onto the train together.

"We looked for you in Diagon Alley, but never saw you," added Hermione.

"Yeah, I got all my stuff there weeks ago," said Sophie as Harry came hurrying over to them, boarding the train just as the whistle was being blown and the doors slammed shut. They greeted each other excitedly, though Sophie noticed Harry seemed a little distracted. The train picked up speed and they waved at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley (and Sophie waved at Mr. Tonks who had dropped her off) until the train pulled around the bend.

Harry turned to Ron, Sophie and Hermione and said, "I need to talk to you in private."

"Go away, Ginny," Ron said rudely.

"Oh, that's nice," Ginny said as she walked away.

"_Ron_," said Sophie.

Ron shrugged. "Let's find a compartment to ourselves."

They tried, but found that all the compartments were already occupied. They walked the full length of the train and finally reached the last compartment, which had a man asleep inside it.

"I guess this is it, then," sighed Sophie, pushing the compartment door open. They filed in.

"Who d'you reckon he is?" asked Ron.

Hermione responded, "Professor R. J. Lupin."

Ron looked at her in surprise. "How d'you know that?"

"It's on his case."

"Wonder what he teaches?" Ron asked.

"That's obvious. There's only one vacancy, isn't there? Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Well, I hope he's up to it. He looks like on, good hex would finish him off, doesn't he?"

"He can't be any worse than Lockhart," said Sophie. "And he'll be gone by the end of the year, anyway."

"Just because that's happened to the last few..." started Hermione.

"Hermione, it's been happening that way for over twenty years," replied Sophie. "But never mind that now. What do you want to say to us, Harry?"

"Well," said Harry, with one glance at the dormant Professor Lupin. "Last night I happened to overhear your mum and dad, Ron, talking about Sirius Black's escape," Sophie felt a sense of foreboding. "And they were saying that the reason Black escaped from Azkaban was to...to come after me. They said he wants to kill me because he thinks I was the one who made Voldemort disappear. And then just now, before the train left, Mr. Weasley was telling me not to go looking for Black," Harry shook his head in a confused manner. "Dunno why he thinks I would..." his voice trailed off.

"Sirius Black escaped to come after you?" said Hermione in a hushed voice. "Oh, Harry... you'll have to be really, really careful. Don't go looking for trouble, Harry -"

"I don't go looking for trouble. Trouble usually finds me," Harry observed dryly.

"How thick would Harry have to be," Ron pointed out. "To go looking for a nutter who wants to kill him? No one knows how he got out of Azkaban. No one's ever done

it before. And he was a top-security prisoner too."

Sophie said nothing. She felt...tainted, somehow, to be so connected, not only to someone who was so devoted to Voldemort, but now to know he wanted to murder one of her closest friends...what _could_ she say?

"But they'll catch him, won't they? I mean, they've got all the Muggles looking out for him too..."

Sophie nodded. "My sister said she thinks the Aurors will catch up with him soon." She didn't mention that Dora had said that weeks ago.

"What's that noise?" Ron asked. "It's coming from your trunk, Harry."

Ron opened Harry's trunk and pulled out a Sneakoscope, an object used to detect Dark and suspicious behaviour.

"You've got a Sneakoscope, Harry?" asked Sophie, glad for the change of subject. "Dora says Made-Eye Moody, one of her Auror instructors, makes them all keep those running all the time."

"Yeah... mind you, it's a very cheap one. It went haywire just as I was tying it to Errol's leg to send it to Harry," said Ron.

Hermione inquired, "Were you doing anything untrustworthy at the time?"

"No!" cried Ron. "Well... I wasn't supposed to be using Errol. You know he's not really up to long journeys... but how else was I supposed to get Harry's present to him?"

"Maybe it really does work well then," said Sophie.

"Stick it back in the trunk or it'll wake him up," suggested Harry, indicating the sleeping professor, and Ron obliged, saying:

"We could get it checked in Hogsmeade. They sell that sort of thing in Dervish and Banges, magical instruments and stuff. Fred and George told me."

"Do you know much about Hogsmeade? I've read it's the only entirely non-Muggle settlement in Britain -" began Hermione.

"Yeah, I think it is, but that's not why I want to go. I just want to get inside Honeydukes!"

"Oh, God, yes!" cried Sophie, enthused.

"What's that?"

"It's this sweetshop," Ron answered.

"It's _the best_ sweetshop," amended Sophie. "Dora used to send me stuff from there. It's _heavenly_..."

"They've got everything," said Ron. "Pepper Imps-they make you smoke at the mouth-and great fat Chocoballs-"

"And those've got creamy fillings," said Sophie. "Some are strawberry, clotted cream, chocolate mousse..."

"And really excellent sugar quills, which you can suck in class and just look like you're thinking what to write next -" Ron continued with Sophie, fantasizing about candy.

"But Hogsmeade's a very interesting place, isn't it? In _Sites of Historical Sorcery_ it says the inn was the headquarters for the 1612 goblin rebellion," said Hermione, "And the Shrieking Shack's supposed to be the most severely haunted building in Britain -"

"-And their fudge is fantastic -have you had any?- it comes in so many different flavours and it practically melts in your mouth..." Sophie reminisced.

"-And massive sherbert balls that make you levitate a few inches off the ground while

you're sucking them," added Ron.

"Won't it be nice to get out of school for a bit and explore Hogsmeade?" Hermione asked.

" 'Spect it will. You'll have to tell me when you've found out?" Harry said

"Aren't you coming too?" asked Sophie. Harry shook his head.

"I can't go," said Harry, looking quite put out. "The Dursleys didn't sign my permission form, and Fudge wouldn't either."

"_You're not allowed to come_?" exclaimed Ron. "But-no way-McGonagall or someone will give you permission-or we can ask Fred and George, they know every secret passage out of the castle-"

"Ron! I don't think Harry should be sneaking out of school with Back on the loose-"

"You don't think he should be sneaking out of school period," Sophie pointed out.

Ron was not to be deterred. "But if _we're_ with him, Black wouldn't dare-"

Hermione soundly dismissed such a ridiculous statement, pointing out that Black hadn't minded killing lots of people in broad daylight before, as she started to open a basket.

"What've you got in there, Hermione?" Sophie asked.

Ron cried, "Don't let that thing out!" But Hermione already had and a great orange cat shot out of the basket and onto Ron's knees. Ron's pet rat Scabbers shook in his pocket.

"Get out of it!"

"Ron, don't!"

"I just bought him in Diagon Alley the other day," said Hermione. 'His name is Crookshanks."

"And he's got it in for Scabbers," said Ron angrily. "Won't leave him alone!"

"For heaven's sake, Ron," Hermione said. "He's a cat, that's what they _do_."

The next hours were relatively uneventful. However, as evening was coming on, the train began slowing down.

"We can't be there yet," Hermione said.

"We must be," said Sophie. "We're stopping."

No sooner had these words left Sophie's lips than the train really did pull to a quick halt. Their luggage tumbled out of its racks and all the lights were suddenly doused, engulfing them all in darkness.

"What's going on?" Ron's voice spoke from the dark.

Hermione also spoke: "Ouch! Ron, that was my foot!"

"D'you think we've broken down?" asked Harry.

"Don't be silly, how could that happen?" replied Sophie.

Ron peered out the window. "There's something moving out there. I think people are coming aboard..."

The compartment door opened.

"Sorry!" exclaimed a voice Sophie recognized as Neville's. "Do you know what's going on? Ouch! Sorry-"

"Hullo, Neville."

"Harry. Is that you?" Neville asked. "What's happening?"

"No idea!" said Harry. "Come and sit down-"

Hermione said she would go ask the driver, but as she tried to leave the compartment she bumped into Ginny who was trying to come in. With the six of them, plus two owls, Scabbers and Crookshanks, the compartment was very crowded and confused until a new voice called out:

"Quiet!"

They fell silent. Sophie had forgotten Professor Lupin's presence, but he seemed to have woken up. He was holding what appeared to be a ball of flames in his hand for light.

"Stay where you are," he continued, rising to make his way to the door, but was prevented from doing so when the door opened and a dark cloaked and hooded figure darkened the doorway.

A hand rose from under its cloak, but it was unlike any hand Sophie had ever seen. It was a pitch back, corpselike, inhuman hand. Sophie felt suddenly freezing cold as the figure's presence seemed to radiate a chill. Though she had never before encountered one, Sophie instinctively knew that this must be one of the Azkaban guards, a dementor. Suddenly her mind seemed to be flashing back, going over events that she had no desire to revisit...Harry was lying on the stone ground, a gash in his arm, life slowing drifting from him...Sirius Black was looking up at her from the front page of the _Daily Prophet_...she was holding a photograph of a woman who eerily resembled her own mother. She glanced up into the mirror and saw the same face staring back at her...

Refocusing on the present, Sophie saw Harry start twitching on one of the seats in front of her. He seemed almost to be having a sort of seizure and slid out of his seat onto the ground. Lupin stepped over him, raised his wand towards the dementor and spoke clearly: "None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go." Then, muttering quietly, a silvery vapour shot out of his wand and the Dementor glided away. Sophie's heartbeats returned to normal and some of the compartment's previous warmth seemed to have been restored. The lights flashed back on and Lupin extinguished the flames.

Hermione and Ron, who were closest, bent over to Harry who was unconscious on the ground. Hermione slapped his face.

"Harry!" she cried. "Harry! Are you all right?"

Harry stirred. "W-what?" Ron and Hermione helped him back onto his seat.

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah. What happened? Where's that-that thing? Who screamed?"

"No one screamed."

"But I heard screaming -" Harry seemed confused and Lupin broke him off a piece of chocolate that he seemed to have pulled from thin air, the proceeded to hand pieces round to the rest of the them. Sophie bit into hers at once and felt instantly comforted, as through the chocolate had been injected with some of the cheerfulness that the Dementor had been sucking away.

Harry questioned, "What was that thing?"

They explained to Harry about the Dementor and what had happened while he had passed out. Sophie couldn't wait for the journey to be over, and she and the others hurriedly made their way off the train and into the school carriages upon their arrival.

When they finally came to the castle, it was raining heavily and Sophie, Hermione, Harry and Ron would have dashed up the stone steps and inside, but Malfoy planted himself in their way, looking triumphant.

"You _fainted_, Potter?" Malfoy jeered at Harry. "Is Longbottom telling the truth? You actually _fainted_?"

"Shove off, Malfoy," said Ron.

"Did you faint as well, Weasley?" Malfoy went on. "Did the scary old Dement-ow!"

Sophie had ignored her cousin's remarks and carried on up the steps, pushing past Malfoy and making sure to step hard on his foot as she past him.

"Is there a problem?" asked Lupin who had just arrived.

"None whatsoever," said Sophie calmly.

Malfoy turned and glared at her. Turning back to Lupin, he said, "Oh, no-er-_Professor_."

Sophie, Hermione, Harry and Ron then made their way up to and through the Entrance Hall. They were near upon entering the Great Hall when Sophie saw Professor McGonagall coming over to them, calling:

"Potter! Granger! I want to see you both!"

The four of them stopped as Professor McGonagall reached them.

"There's no need to look so worried-I just want a word in my office. Move along there, Weasley, Tonks." And she herded Hermione and Harry away.

"Come on," said Sophie to Ron, who was standing, mouth slightly agape, staring after Hermione and Harry. Sophie and Ron made their way into the Great Hall and along to the Gryffindor table. They found four empty seats, taking two and saving the others.

"What d'you suppose that was about?" asked Ron.

"No idea," said Sophie. "I hope Harry's OK. though."

Professor Flitwick was walking up the centre of the Hall followed by the usual herd of first years.

"McGonagall must still be with Hermione and Harry," Sophie whispered to Ron who nodded, a crease between his brows as the Hall's attention turned to the Sorting Hat upon its stool. The brim of the Hat opened and it sang:

_Hogwarts School was founded_

_By four friends, their names immortal_

_Given to their own houses_

_Which are, for their attributes, a portal._

_The four founders of Hogwarts School_

_Made it their own lives' goal_

_To educate young wizardfolk_

_To teach, their purpose sole._

_When they fashioned their own houses-_

_The Hogwarts Houses four-_

_They referenced all four elements_

_Keeping balance at the core._

_Slytherin where shrewd ambition_

_Runs deep within the waters_

_Of its lake of great cunning_

_And the resourceful swim like otters._

_Those fiery Gryffindors will always_

_Rise to meet the foe,_

_Bravely facing down the flames_

_That threaten every woe._

_A Hufflepuff stands firm_

_As on the earth on which they rest._

_This loyal, steady foundation_

_Is their mark, their very crest._

_Ravenclaws dream to soar_

_To great heights up in the air._

_Their minds will be their vehicles_

_Their wit, their gift to bear. _

_So there you have it; there they are_

_The four houses of Hogwarts School_

_Now put me on and I will sort you_

_And I -the Founders' own- here will rule._

Sophie and Ron clapped along with the rest of the school and Professor Flitwick unrolled a scroll and began calling students' names off of it in his high voice.

"Look at Malfoy," grumbled Ron, staring over at the Slytherin table. "Git."

Sophie glanced over and saw Malfoy talking with his fellow Slytherins about something, looking gleeful. Sophie had a feeling he was spreading Harry's fainting episode far and wide.

"Greengrass, Astoria!" squeaked Professor Flitwick.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Sophie glanced further along the Slytherin table and caught the eyes of Lily and Tracey, both of whom smiled back at her as they applauded Astoria.

"Maybe Lupin told McGonagall that Harry fainted?" Ron muttered to Sophie.

"Why'd she need to talk to Hermione, then?" asked Sophie. Ron shrugged.

"Vane, Romilda!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

After the Sorting Ceremony finished Hermione and Harry entered the Great Hall with Professor McGonagall and took the seats Sophie and Ron had saved for them.

"What was all that about?" Ron asked.

"McGonagall heard I passed out and wanted to make sure I was OK, and she wanted to talk to Hermione about-" but Harry stopped speaking as Dumbledore started his speech.

"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast..."

Dumbledore went on to explain that the Dementors would be guarding Hogwarts and that they were not to be crossed, if possible. Dumbledore did not mention Sirius Black, although Sophie assumed that he was the reason for the Dementors' presence.

Dumbledore went on, "On a happier note, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. As to our second new appointment, well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."

Sophie, Hermione, Harry and Ron clapped loudly, greatly enthused at these announcements, and enjoyed the rest of the feast looking forward to having Hagrid for their teacher that year.


	18. Fears and Secrets

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**Fears and Secrets**

"Ooh, good," exclaimed Hermione at breakfast the next morning. "We're starting some new subjects today."

Starting in third year, Hogwarts students took at least two elective subjects in addition to their previous classes and studied them through fifth year. Sophie was going to be starting Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures today. Harry and Ron were taking Divination and Care of Magical Creatures and Hermione was taking everything.

Ron glanced at Hermione's timetable. "Hermione, they've messed up your timetable. Look -they've got you down for about ten subjects a day. There isn't enough _time_."

"I'll manage," stated Hermione composedly. "I've fixed it all with Professor McGonagall."

Ron persisted. "But look, see this morning? Nine o'clock, Divination. And underneath, nine o'clock, Muggle Studies. And _look_, underneath that, Arithmancy, _nine o' clock._ I know you're good, Hermione, but no one's _that_ good. How're you supposed to be in three classes at once?"

"Don't be silly. Of course I won't be in three classes at once."

"Well then-"

"Pass the marmalade."

Ron wouldn't give up, so Sophie handed the marmalade to Hermione.

"Oh, Ron," said Hermione, spreading marmalade on her toast. "What's it to you if my timetable's a bit full? I told you, I've fixed it all with Professor McGonagall."

Ron opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by Hagrid calling to them as he passed, "All righ'? Yer in my firs' ever lesson! Right after lunch! Bin up since five gettin' everythin' ready...hope it's OK...me, a teacher...hones'ly..."

Ron asked, "Wonder what he's been getting ready?" Sophie shrugged and Ron looked at his own timetable.

"We'd better go," he said to Harry and Hermione. "Look, Divination's at the top of the North Tower. It'll take us ten minutes to get there..."

"I'll see you in Transfiguration," said Sophie as the other three rose. She glanced at Hermione. "You're going to Divination, then?"

But Hermione only said, "I'll see you later, Sophie," and set off with Harry and Ron.

Shaking her head bemusedly, Sophie finished her breakfast at a more leisurely pace as the Arithmancy classroom was much nearer than the North Tower. Eventually she and Sally-Anne set off for Arithmancy together. They had almost reached the correct classroom when Hermione came dashing up behind them, out of breath.

"Weren't you going to Divination?" Sophie asked her, surprised.

"Oh, yes," said Hermione absently. "Arithmancy's just around here, isn't it?" She turned a corner and Sophie and Sally-Anne exchanged bewildered looks, then hurried to catch up with her.

Their Arithmancy classes were to be held with the Ravenclaws and a some of them were already clustered outside the classroom. As they had no other classes together, most Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students in their year did not know each other very well.

Professor Vector, their Arithmancy professor, soon opened the door and they all filed in. Professor Vector turned out to be a very engaging and kindly teacher. She started her class by giving an introductory on Arithmancy. Hermione sat straight up in her seat, giving her full and rapt attention, and even Sophie was impressed how interesting Professor Vector could make interpreting the significance of numbers sound. Eventually she had the class turn to the introductory chapter of their textbook, _Numerology and Grammatica_ and take notes on it. Because it was their first lesson, Professor Vector announced they were not to have any homework. As the bell rang and Sophie gathered up her belongings, she felt that at least her first class had gone exceptionally well.

As she, Hermione and Sally-Anne walked towards Transfiguration, Hermione mentioned that she wanted to nip into the bathroom. "Don't wait for me," she told Sophie and Sally-Anne, who had paused for her. "Go on, I'll catch up."

So Sophie and Sally-Anne went to Transfiguration alone. They sat and waited, but Hermione did not show up for quite some time, not until just before the bell, in fact, and she arrived with Harry and Ron. Sophie smiled at them as they sat down, but Ron and Harry looked rather put out about something.

Sophie found the Transfiguration lesson very interesting; Professor McGonagall was explaining about Animagi, which were wizards who had learned how to turn themselves into animals. Sophie learned that Professor McGonagall herself was an Animagus and watched eagerly as she transformed herself into a cat for them. Most of the class, however, seemed very distracted and barely reacted.

Professor McGonagall turned back into herself. "Really, what has got into you all today? Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not got applause from a class."

Hermione spoke, "Please, Professor, we've just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and -"

Sophie looked round at Hermione, frowning. What did she mean? She hadn't been to Divination yet.

"Ah, of course, there is no need to say any more, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?" asked Professor McGonagall.

Sophie exchanged a puzzled glance with Sally-Anne. What was going on?

Harry said, "Me."

Professor McGonagall replied, "I see. Then you should know, Potter, that Sibyl Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them has died yet. Seeing death omens is her favorite way of greeting a new class..." She went on to explain how greatly she distrusted the subject of Divination and doubted that Harry was about to die any time soon.

Faintly bewildered, Sophie took notes through the rest of class, then caught up with Hermione, Harry and Ron in the Great Hall at lunch.

"Hey," she said, sitting down opposite them at the table. "What happened in Divination?"

None of them answered her. There was a deep, unsettled crease between Ron's brows and he asked, somberly, "Harry, you haven't seen a great black dog anywhere, have you?"

"What?" asked Sophie.

"You know," said Ron, finally acknowledging her, "The Grim."

Sophie shrugged. "Yeah. You don't actually believe in the Grim nonsense, though, do you?"

"It's not nonsense!" said Ron heatedly. "Well, Harry, have you?"

"Yeah, I have. I saw one the night I left the Dursleys'. "

Hermione responded, "Probably a stray."

Ron evidently didn't think so. "Hermione, if Harry's seen a Grim, that's-that's bad. My-my uncle Bilius saw one and-and he died twenty-four hours later!"

"That's terrible," said Sophie. "But it doesn't prove anything." She turned to Hermione. "Hey, Hermione-"

Ron cut her off. "You don't know what you're talking about! Grims scare the living daylights out of most wizards!"

"There you are, then. They see the Grim and die of fright," said Hermione, as if concluding the matter. "The Grim's not an omen, it's the cause of death! And Harry's still with us because he's not stupid enough to see one and think, right, well, I'd better pop my clogs then! I think Divination seems very woolly, a lot of guesswork, if you ask me."

"How would you know?" asked Sophie. 'You haven't been to a class yet."

Harry cast a confused look at Sophie and opened his mouth to speak, but Ron, who wasn't listening, spoke over him:

"There was nothing woolly about the Grim in that cup!"

Hermione replied, "You didn't seem quite so confident when you were telling Harry it was a sheep."

"Professor Trelawney said you didn't have the right aura!" exclaimed Ron. "You just don't like being rubbish at something for a change!"

"If being good at Divination means I have to pretend to see death omens in a lump of

tea leaves, I'm not sure I'll be studying it much longer! That lesson was absolute rubbish compared with my Arithmancy class!"

"_Herm_-" Sophie started, but Hermione had already stalked off. Sophie sighed exasperatedly and resigned herself back to her lunch. She would get the whole story out of Hermione later.

Ron wondered, "What's she talking about? She hasn't been to an Arithmancy class yet."

Sophie glanced up at him. "Yes she has, she was there this morning with Sally-Anne and me."

"But she was in Divination with us," countered Harry.

"When?" asked Sophie.

"Right before Transfiguration!" said Harry.

Sophie stared at the pair of them. "You're wrong," she said finally. "Hermione was in Arithmancy first period."

"Are you sure she was there the _whole_ time?" asked Harry.

"_Yes,_" said Sophie. "Are you two sure she was in Divination the _whole_ time?"

Harry and Ron both nodded. The three of them stared at each other, confused and lost for words.

Care of Magical Creatures class was being held with the Slytherins and outside Hagrid's hut. Unfortunately this meant that Sophie had to endure Malfoy's presence more often than just during Potions class.

"God, this place is going to the dogs, that oaf teaching classes," complained Malfoy that afternoon. "My father'll have a fit when I tell him..."

Harry said, "Shut up, Malfoy."

"Careful, Potter, there's a dementor behind you..." taunted Malfoy, but was cut off by a squeal from Lavender.

Hagrid was bringing what Sophie recognized as hippogriffs towards them. Half-bird, half-horse, they were a fairly intimidating sight.

"Beau'iful, aren' they?" Hagrid asked the class. "So,"if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer -now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud," Sophie tried to keep her attention on Hagrid's words, but this was difficult as Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were muttering amongst themselves instead of listening and the noise distracted her. "Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do. Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move, it's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt. Right-who wants ter go first?...No one?"

Sophie, who didn't even like being on a broomstick, definitely wanted to stay as far away from riding the hippogriff as possible, and instinctively shuffled her feet away from the creature's padlock. Harry volunteered himself.

Hagrid instructed Harry in approaching the hippogriff that he called 'Buckbeak,' giving him direction on what to do until Buckbeak bowed to Harry and let him ride him. Sophie watched as Harry soared overhead on the great animal, finally touching back down to the ground amidst the class's cheers.

"Good work, Harry! Okay, who else wants a go?"

Sophie, Hermione and Ron practiced bowing to a chestnut brown coloured hippogriff. It was somewhat nerve-racking as one didn't want to upset the hippogriff by being too bold. Just as Sophie, Hermione and Ron were having a bit of success with their hippogriff, however, a girlish scream sounded from behind them.

Sophie whipped around and saw Hagrid forcing Buckbeak backwards as Malfoy lay on the ground, writhing and covered in blood.

"Oh my God!" cried Sophie, startled, as the rest of the class reacted in fear and panic.

"I'm dying! I'm dying, look at me! It's killed me!"

"Yer not dyin'!" responded Hagrid, sounding panicked as he lifted Malfoy from the ground. "Someone help me-gotta get him outta here -"

Hermione, who seemed to have kept her head, opened the gate that led out of the paddock and Hagrid ran, carrying Malfoy, up to the school. Sophie and the other students walked behind, all calming down somewhat, finally reaching the Entrance Hall where they separated, students from each House returning to their respective common rooms.

Hermione was worried. "You think he'll be all right?"

"He'll be fine," said Sophie airily. "It was all his fault and he'll be put right soon enough."

"Course he will," agreed Harry. "Madam Pomfrey can mend cuts in about a second."

Ron took a gloomier view. "That was a really bad thing to happen in Hagrid's first class, though, wasn't it? Trust Malfoy to mess things up for him..."

As it happened, Hagrid was not sacked, but there was to be an inquiry into whether or not Buckbeak was safe, the results of which would decide whether the hippogriff was to be executed or not.

Sophie was quite intrigued at the start of their first Defence Against the Dark Arts class, as Professor Lupin had informed them that they were to be having a "practical lesson." After the incident on the train Sophie already had a good impression of Lupin's abilities as a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and reflected that he could in no way be worse than the last two. Still, she was somewhat puzzled as Lupin had brought the class to the staff room and had them facing the teachers' wardrobe where she, Harry and Ron had hidden at the end of last year. Suddenly, however, the wardrobe moved of its own accord.

Lupin reassured them, "Nothing to worry about, there's a boggart in there."

"Uh, oh," said Sophie quietly. She wasn't the only one. Sophie knew perfectly well what a boggart was, as did many of her classmates, but Lupin still took the time to explain meticulously to the class what a boggart was and what it did.

Professor Lupin chose Neville to use as an example in fighting a boggart.

"Right, Neville, first things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"

Sophie was rather surprised by Neville's response: "Professor Snape." Nevertheless, Lupin went on to describe to Neville how to make his Snape-Boggart appear comical, then spoke to the rest of the class, "If Neville is successful, the boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn. I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical..."

Sophie racked her brains. The thing that scared her most...she was scared of lots of things. Heights, a reign of terror like Voldemort had had before, Sirius Black finding and killing Harry...This was difficult, in Sophie's opinion anyway; it was a very vulnerable activity, to expose one's worst fear to one's classmates. Sophie couldn't help feeling glad that Malfoy or some other bully wasn't in this class...

She shook her head in an attempt to clear it. She had to think more quickly; Lupin wasn't going to give them all day. Then it came to her: the episode that had been haunting her for months, her encounter with the Basilisk last June. Sophie shuddered, remembering. That, undoubtedly, of all the frightening things she had experienced, was the pinnacle for her as she had been forced to keep her eyes shut and could only clutch at Harry's hand blindly. That was most terrifying to her as she hadn't been able to see the enemy. She preferred to keep her eyes open.

"One-two-three-_now_!"

Lupin directed his wand at the wardrobe. It burst open and Snape appeared to step out, bearing down upon Neville.

"R-r-riddikulus!" Neville cried.

_Crack! _Suddenly Snape was standing before the class in a lacy dress and hat topped with a stuffed vulture.

Sophie laughed in spite of herself and decided on her own way in which to make her boggart appear comical.

Parvati was next. Her boggart was a mummy who tripped and had its head roll off.

The whip sound came again as Seamus faced the boggart. The mummy became a banshee who lost her shrieking voice.

Sally-Anne was next. As she approached the voiceless banshee -_Crack!_- it became a rat which scuttled towards her until-

"Riddikulus!" exclaimed Sally-Anne.

The rat turned round and round, absurdly chasing its own tail.

Sophie stepped towards the rat, her wand raised and ready. Immediately the rat disappeared, replaced by the enormous hissing Basilisk which slithered towards Sophie.

"Riddikulus!" she shouted.

The Basilisk turned and twisted its body around until it had tied itself into a knot, its head encased in the centre.

Sophie stepped back as Lavender went to face the Boggart, immensely enjoying the sight of her greatest fear rolled into a defeated and helpless knot on the floor.


	19. Uncomfortably Close

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**Uncomfortably Close**

**Sorry, everyone, for the delay in updating! My life was crazy, and then I had no internet. Fortunately my connection has now been fixed. Enjoy! **

Sophie really did feel terribly sorry that Harry was not allowed into Hogsmeade. It was Halloween and she, Hermione and Ron were going into the village together for their first time. They promised Harry they would bring him back lots of candy, hoping to make him feel at least a bit better about being left out. He, in good-natured fashion, pretended not to care that he wasn't going. Despite her regret over Harry, Sophie couldn't help feeling excited to see all the shops Dora had talked about.

"I think Honeydukes is up there," said Ron, indicating a way up the street he, Sophie and Hermione were on.

"We'd better visit Honeydukes near the end," said Hermione, thoughtfully. "That way we won't have to carry sweets around with us the whole time."

Sophie sighed, seeing the sense in this. "All right, but let's make sure we leave ourselves plenty of time for Honeydukes," she said.

They set off down the street gazing eagerly at the buildings and shops that lined it. They all felt quite grown up being allowed out of school to stroll through the town. They stopped at the Three Broomsticks to try butterbeer which both Sophie and Ron had heard favourable reports of from their siblings. Ron blushed when Madam Rosmerta, the slim and curvy barmaid asked for their order, and all three of them pronounced the butterbeer wonderful.

"Really warms you up, doesn't it?"

"Oh, it's so good; look at the foam!"

"Is that an _ogre_?" asked Hermione, nodding towards a figure in the corner.

Sophie glanced over. The figure was hard to make out. "Maybe." Hermione shuddered.

"Could be," said Ron. "Dunno."

They finished their butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks and poked their heads into Dervish and Banges, an equipment shop, and pored over Sneakoscopes and other interesting devices, the Ron dragged them off to Zonko's Joke Shop where he bought a few items (Sophie reminded him of Honeydukes, otherwise he probably would have bought more). Hermione wanted to visit the post office and was fascinated by the sight of hundreds of owls sitting, waiting to be given a letter for delivery. Finally they decided they had better get off to Honeydukes so as to allow themselves enough time for browsing sweets.

Honeydukes was warm and had a soft, sweet aroma about it. A witch near the front was handing out samples of the shop's newest fudge (raspberry coconut) which they all three sampled and saved some for Harry. They proceeded to choose other fudges to buy, and also chose Sugar Quills, Pepper Imps, portions of some of the great slabs of chocolate Honeydukes stocked...

"We'd better get going," said Hermione finally. "We should give Harry his stuff before the feast."

They agreed, and each casting one wistful glance over their shoulders, set out for Hogwarts.

That evening Honeydukes seemed a million miles away. Sophie was lying in a squashy purple sleeping bag next to Hermione, Harry and Ron on the cold stone floor of the Great Hall. After the Halloween feast, the Gryffindors had found themselves unable to enter their common room as the Fat Lady had disappeared from her frame. She had, it was discovered, fled when Sirius Black had attacked her when she denied him entry. The castle was now being searched for Sirius and the students were all sleeping in the Great Hall under the prefects' and Head Boy and Girl's supervision. Sophie was having trouble sleeping, however, as she had so much to think about. On returning from Hogsmeade, Harry had told them that Snape had given Lupin a very strange drink and had theories about Snape possibly wanting to poison Lupin. That incident, in addition to a mysterious conversation the four of them had overheard between Dumbledore and Snape where the latter seemed to indicate he thought it likely someone inside the school had helped Sirius Black in, was giving Sophie plenty to think about.

When December arrived Sophie gave her name to Professor McGonagall for the list of students who would be staying at school over Christmas. She knew her parents would be upset, as this was the second year in a row she had missed Christmas with them, and she would miss them too, but she, Hermione and Ron all wanted to keep Harry company that year, particularly as he had been left out of Hogsmeade trips, the second of which was taking place a week before Christmas. Sophie, Hermione and Ron bid Harry a regretful goodbye before setting out for the village again.

Hermione suggested they send their parents Christmas cards from the Hogsmeade post office, which they did (Sophie inscribed "See you at Easter," on hers) and then, because they were so cold, decided to go to Honeydukes to warm up and stock up on sweets.

Apparently most other students had had the same idea, because Honeydukes was packed -and very warm, which suited them.

"Let's check those out," said Ron, indicating a section near the back labelled "Unusual Tastes."

"Do you think Harry likes 'unusual tastes'?" asked Sophie as they moved to the display of candy.

"Why not?" asked Ron. He bent towards some blood-red lollipops. "What d'you reckon?"

"Ugh, no," said Hermione, wrinkling her nose. "Harry won't want one of those, they're for vampires, I expect."

"Good grief," said Sophie. "Do you think vampires shop here?"

Hermione shrugged. "Remember that ogre we saw in the Three Broomsticks?"

Ron picked up a jar of candy that resembled insects. "How about these?"

"Definitely not," said a familiar voice from behind them. They spun around.

"Harry!" exclaimed Sophie and Hermione.

"What are you doing here?" cried Hermione. "How-how did you -?"

"Wow! You've learned to Apparate!" said Ron.

"'Course I haven't. It's this map; Fred and George said they nicked it from Filch. It's called the Marauder's Map and it shows all the secret passageways in and out of Hogwarts and it shows all the people in Hogwarts and where they are."

"How come Fred and George never gave it to me? I'm their brother!" Ron asked indignantly.

"But Harry isn't going to keep it! He's going to hand it in to Professor McGonagall, aren't you, Harry?" said Hermione.

"Hermione!" said Sophie.

Harry said, "No, I'm not!"

Hermione pointed out that Sirius Black could be using one of the map's secret passageways to get into Hogwarts.

"He can't be getting in through a passage. There are seven secret tunnels on the map, right? Fred and George reckon Filch already knows about four of them. And of the other three-one of them's caved in, so no one can get through it. One of them's got the Whomping Willow planted over the entrance, so you can't get out of it.

And the one I just came through -well- it's really hard to see the entrance to it down in

the cellar, so unless he knew it was there..."

Hermione protested, but in the end gave in. Sophie knew that she too felt sorry that Harry was not allowed legitimately to come to Hogsmeade. Ron immediately preoccupied himself with showing Harry all around Honeydukes.

After leaving the sweet shop they decided, because of the freezing cold, to go to the Three Broomsticks and introduce Harry to butterbeer.

They sat next to a window in the Three Broomsticks. "Merry Christmas!" cried Ron. raising his cup of butterbeer. The other three imitated him, and Sophie enjoyed the sensation of the creamy foam lapping in her mouth as the drink's warmth radiated through her frigid hands. The drink was so wonderful that Sophie nearly missed seeing

who had just entered the pub.

Hagrid, Professors McGonagall and Flitwick and none other than Fudge, the Minister for Magic had just come in. Stifling a gasp, Sophie quickly stood up, her back to them, to block Harry from view. Hermione and Ron pushed Harry underneath the table and Hermione magicked a nearby Christmas tree to move in front of their table, preventing the teachers from seeing them. Only then did Sophie resume her seat,

The Minister and the teachers took their orders while Sophie exchanged a horrified glance with Hermione and Ron. Sophie pressed her feet to the stone floor nervously. She could sense Harry beside their legs, shifting slightly.

"So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, Minister?"

Fudge explained how the search was continuing for Sirius Black and how it was believed he was still in the area.

"Do you know, I still have trouble believing it. Of all the people to go over to the Dark Side, Sirius Black was the last I'd have thought... I mean, I remember him when he was a boy at Hogwarts," said Madam Rosmerta. "If you'd told me then what he was going to become, I'd have said you'd had too much mead."

_You and Mum both,_ thought Sophie.

"You don't know the half of it, Rosmerta. The worst he did isn't widely known."

Sophie's breath caught in her throat and she listened hard in spite of herself. What could Fudge mean?

"Do you remember who his best friend was?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"Naturally. Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here-ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter!"

Sophie froze. James Potter, Harry's father, friends with her cousin? Mum and Dad had quite failed to mention that...

The conversation that followed between the teachers was one of the most shocking Sophie had heard in her entire life. Apparently when the Potters got wind that Voldemort was after them, they went into hiding using the Fidelius Charm and made Sirius their Secret Keeper. Sirius, they said, was already working for Voldemort and told him of the Potters' whereabouts in Godric's Hollow. The day after Voldemort killed the Potters, Peter Pettigrew, another friend of James and Sirius', had tracked Sirius down, but Sirius had killed him and twelve Muggle witnesses...

"Is it true he's mad, Minister?"

_He must be_, thought Sophie desperately. _He must be, please let him be mad. How else could the boy Mum remembers be reconciled with this monster?_

"I met Black on my last inspection of Azkaban. You know, most of the prisoners in there sit muttering to themselves in the dark; there's no sense in them... but I was shocked at how normal Black seemed. He spoke quite rationally to me. It was unnerving. You'd have thought he was merely bored-asked if I'd finished with my newspaper, cool as you please, said he missed doing the crossword."

The Minister soon left with the teachers. Hermione and Ron both ducked under the table.

"Harry?"

Sophie didn't duck under to see Harry; she was reeling too much from her own shock to try and sympathize with Harry's at the moment. She didn't need to, as it transpired, because a second later Harry had emerged from under the table.

"I'm going back to school," he mumbled. And without further ado her turned and left the pub.

"Ha-" began Hermione, starting up, but Ron placed his hand on her arm and shook his head. Sophie stared at her own hands, not knowing what to say.

"Let's go," said Ron, standing up. They all three left the Three Broomsticks.

That afternoon there was a flurry of packing and leaving in the school as the holidays began the next day and nearly everyone was going home for Christmas, and Harry had made himself scarce from his friends' presence.

"We'll be able to talk to him tomorrow though," said Hermione, sensibly. "When all this lot has cleared out, we'll be the only ones left here."

Sophie wasn't particularly sure she wanted to talk to Harry about what they had heard, though she didn't see how the issue could be ignored, either.

That next morning Sophie and Hermione got up and went down into the deserted common room where Ron soon joined them.

"Harry's still asleep," he informed them. "And I think we should work out what we're going to say to him before he wakes up and comes down here."

"Good idea," said Hermione. "I think we should start by telling him we know he's upset, but that he shouldn't do anything stupid."

Ron nodded. "Right. Like trying to find Black."

"Exactly," said Hermione. "We have to show him that's not sensible."

"How about if I say something like, 'Black's not worth dying for.' How's that?" asked Ron.

Hermione nodded "Good."

"Guys," sighed Sophie. "He'll see through this in a second."

"You don't want him to run off thinking he's got to take revenge on Black, or something crazy, do you?" asked Hermione.

"Of course not!"

"Well then," said Hermione, proceeding to take out some of her homework and a quill and settling down to work.

They waited several hours, and finally Hermione said, "Ron, maybe you'd better wake him up soon; it's almost noon."

"In a minute," said Ron.

In a minute, however, there was no need, as Harry descended the stairs from the boys' dormitory himself.

Against Sophie's better judgement, Hermione and Ron gave their pre-rehearsed lecture to Harry who reacted much as Sophie expected he would, and the conversation went awry. Sophie was silent through most of it. No doubt the Malfoys _had_ known Sirius was working for Voldemort; Mum didn't know what Sirius' relationship with Narcissa and Bellatrix had been like after she left; perhaps he had been influenced, changed, secretly grown fond of the Dark Arts and pure-blood philosophy. And here was Harry, the person most hurt by all that had transpired, his friends trying to dissuade him from doing murder. Sophie knew now that she wouldn't -_couldn't_- reveal to Harry her relationship to Sirius Black. Things were bad enough for Harry without dragging her own problems into the mix.

Sophie and Hermione were the only ones in their dormitory on Christmas morning.

After exchanging greetings and opening their gifts, they decided to go see if Harry and Ron were awake. Hermione picked up Crookshanks.

"I wouldn't bring him if I were you, Hermione," said Sophie. "Ron-"

Oh, he's fine," said Hermione, stroking the tabby's head.

Shrugging, Sophie opened the dormitory door and they headed into the boys' dormitory.

As they entered Harry and Ron were both doubled over in laughter, a shiny new broomstick laying on one of the beds.

"Happy Christmas," said Sophie, unnoticed. "What's-" She craned her neck to peer around at the broom. "Is that a-"

"It's a Firebolt," declared Ron. "Harry got sent a- don't bring him in here!" Ron changed direction mid-sentence as Hermione brought Crookshanks into the room.

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione cried. "Who sent it to you?"

"No idea. There wasn't a card or anything with it."

Hermione seemed troubled at this, wondering why someone would anonymously send Harry the best broom in the world, but Ron brushed these worries aside.

"Listen, Harry," he said. "Can I have a go on it? Can I?"

Hermione's brow was furrowed. "I don't think anyone should ride that broom just yet!"

A moment later Crookshanks caused a diversion by leaping onto Ron's chest, trying to get at Scabbers in his pocket.

"You'd better take that cat out of here, Hermione," Ron told her. Hermione gathered Crookshanks up in her arms and she left the room, Sophie following her.

"Why don't you think anyone should ride the Firebolt?" Sophie asked her, once back in the common room.

"Because," said Hermione, casting a backwards glance up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. "It's a very strange thing to happen, and we know that Sirius Black is out to get Harry-" Sophie felt her stomach twist. "-So what if Black sent Harry that broomstick and hexed it?"

Sophie glanced down. "Harry and Ron won't like that idea," she said. "But...I see your point."

Later that day Hermione informed Professor McGonagall of Harry's getting a broomstick and she had it confiscated with the intent of "stripping it down," as she called it, checking for jinxes. Harry and Ron were, needless to say, furious with Hermione, and Sophie, though trying to stay in neutral middle ground, felt somewhat obligated not to abandon Hermione.


	20. Cat, Rat, Broom and Black

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**Cat, Rat, Broom and Black**

Sophie sat with Hermione working on her Arithmancy essay one evening. Hermione had already finished hers, plus a Muggle Studies' essay and was now working on her homework for Ancient Runes. Sophie sighed, gazing at Hermione's head bowed low over her work. It was rather dull, with Ron and Harry angry at Hermione about Scabbers and the Firebolt, she felt obligated to stick with Hermione, though she herself had no quarrel with Ron or Harry, but Hermione rarely had time for anything other than her homework.

"Why don't you give it a rest for tonight, Hermione?" Sophie asked.

"I can't," said Hermione shortly, not looking up. "I've got a roll of parchment of translation to do."

"Drop Divination," Sophie told her blandly.

"And then I've still got all my Potions homework to do-"

"Drop Divination."

Hermione did not seem to hear her. "And I think I had better read up on Flobberworms so I'm more prepared to work with them next Care of Magical Creatures class-

"Drop Divination," Sophie repeated.

"And then I've still got to practice the new spells Professor Flitwick mentioned the other day-"

"Drop Divination."

"If I can get all that done tonight - what did you say?" Hermione finally looked up.

"Drop Divination. And drop Muggle Studies too, while you're at it," said Sophie.

"Why would I do that?" asked Hermione, the seemingly permanent crease between her brows deepening as she spoke.

"Because they're driving you insane," said Sophie. "You never have time to do anything but homework; you're always exhausted and always on edge. You hate Divination; you're always complaining about it, and you don't need Muggle Studies. I don't know why you ever took it in the first place."

"I told you," said Hermione through gritted teeth. "It's fascinating to study Muggles from a wizarding point of view."

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Fascinating to the point where you'd risk your health and overall enjoyment of life?

Hermione returned her eyes to her parchment. "I've got to finish this, Sophie." She dipped her quill and resumed writing.

Sophie tried a different tack. "How d'you expect to do well in all your subjects if you're making yourself exhausted all the time? Isn't it better to focus on less subjects so you can do really well in those?"

Hermione opened her mouth to respond but at that moment there was a commotion near the portrait hole as Harry and Ron entered, Harry carrying his Firebolt and everyone surrounded him to admire it. Sophie resisited the urge to get up and see the Firebolt because she knew it would hurt Hermione's feelings and instead returned to her essay.

Eventually Harry and Ron both came over to Sophie and Hermione. Harry was holding his Fierbolt and Sphie couldn't help stealing a lingering glance at it.

Harry spoke to Hermione, "I got it back."

"See, Hermione?" said Ron. "There wasn't anything wrong with it!"

Hermione scrambled for a response. "At least you know now that it's safe!"

"Yeah, I suppose so. I'd better put it upstairs," Harry made to walk away but Ron stopped him.

"I'll take it! I've got to give Scabbers his rat tonic." Ron left with the Firebolt.

"Can I sit down, then?" inquired Harry.

"Of course," said Sophie, indicating for him to sit down next to her, which he did. "Hermione and I were just discussing her ridiculously overcrowded timetable and its negative impact on her overall life and livelihood."

Hermione scowled at Sophie, but Harry asked her, before she could snap at Sophie, "How are you getting through all this stuff?"

"Oh," said Hermione, looking away from Sophie and dropped her eyes to her translation. "Well-you know-working hard,"

"Why don't you just drop a couple of subjects?" Harry suggested as Hermione rearranged her books and parchment, searching for her dictionary.

"Now there's an idea, Hermione!" said Sophie, handing the dictionary to her.

Hermione glared at Sophie, taking the book. "I couldn't do that!"

Harry glanced over at her Arithmancy things. "Arithmancy looks terrible."

"It's not that bad, actually," offered Sophie. "Vector makes it seem-"

"It's wonderful! It's my favorite subject!" cried Hermione, not taking her eyes off her Ancient Runes translation and appearing not to have heard Sophie. "It's -"

"AARGHH!"

Sophie whipped her head around. A shout had just sounded from inside the boys' dormitory. The next moment, Ron appeared, dragging a bedsheet with him and looking enraged.

"Ron, what the-" Sophie began, but Ron strode past her and stopped by Hermione.

"LOOK! LOOK! SCABBERS! LOOK!" Ron looked utterly fierce and slightly demented, holding the bedsheet in front of Hermione's face. "SCABBERS! BLOOD! HE'S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?"

"N-no," Hermione's voice was barely audible.

Ron tossed cat hairs down onto Hermione's translation that were unmistakably Crookshanks'.

The feud between Hermione and Ron grew even fiercer after this. Both were very angry at each other over whatever had gone on between their pets. Sophie thought it likely that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers, but was angry at Ron for putting Scabbers over Hermione who was really, Sophie reflected, under too much stress already to have her friends angry at her as well. Because of this Sophie neglected to express her opinion of Crookshanks' guilt to Hermione. Harry, unfortunately, made the mistake of doing just that.

"Don't you see, Hermione," he had said to her. "It's too much of a coincidence to have been anything else; Scabbers is gone and we know Crookshanks has been trying to eat him all year-"

"OK!" shouted Hermione. "Side with Ron, I knew you would! First the Firebolt, now

Scabbers, everything's my fault, isn't it! Just leave me alone, Harry, I've got a lot of

work to do!"

Because of this, Sophie felt it her obligation to stick with Hermione as her sole friend left, though she herself had no particular quarrel with Harry or Ron, other than their insensitivity towards Hermione.

Sophie was awakened from her sleep one night by a noise that sounded like a yell. Groggily she pulled apart her bed curtains and saw that Hermione, Sally-Anne, Parvati and Lavender had all been awoken as well.

"You guys all heard that too?" asked Parvati, rubbing her eyes.

"What-" started Sally-Anne, but Hermione pressed her fingers to her lips. "Shhh!"

They all listened. Sophie could hear more shouts and then the sound of feet thundering down a staircase.

"I'm going to see what's going on," said Sophie, grabbing her dressing gown and leaving the dormitory, the other four close behind her. She jumped the last few steps and landed in the common room. Harry and Ron were there with Neville, Seamus and Dean, and other boys were descending their staircase as well. Ron looked stark white.

"What's all the noise?" called Sally-Anne as they entered the common room.

"Professor McGonagall told us to go to bed!" said Lavender.

Sophie hurried over to Harry and Ron. "Are you OK?" she asked them.

"Everyone back upstairs!" barked Percy Weasley.

"Perce," said Ron. "Sirius Black! In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!"

Sophie froze. _No way..._

Percy tried to dissuade Ron from this idea, but was interrupted by the arrival of Professor McGonagall.

"This is getting ridiculous!" she cried. "Percy, I expected better of you!"

"I certainly didn't authorize this, Professor! I was just telling them all to get back to bed!" Percy defended. "My brother Ron here had a nightmare -"

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE! PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS

STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Weasley," said Professor McGonagall. "How could he possibly have gotten through the portrait hole?" She went out to speak with Sir Cadogan's portrait.

"Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"Certainly, good lady!"

"You-you _did_? But-but the password!"

"He had 'em! Had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!"

Professor McGonagall returned to the common room.

"Which person, which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?"

A squeak sounded to Sophie's left. She turned and saw Neville there, shaking with fear, one hand in the air. Terrified though she was, she could not help feeling tremendously sorry for Neville.

Professor McGonagall's eyes flashed at him. "I will deal with you later, Longbottom." She addressed the room. "No one is to leave Gryffindor Tower. The school will be searched again." And she turned on her heel and left.

Ron sank shakily into one of the armchairs and Harry sat beside him. Sophie started to sit on Ron's other side, but then noticed Hermione off by herself in a corner and changed direction, going to stay by her. As she walked towards Hermione, she passed Neville. She would have liked to comfort him; he looked horrified at what he'd done, but couldn't find the right words, so she just rubbed his shoulder briefly in what she hoped was a consoling way as she passed him.

Sophie sat huddled with Hermione for hours; all the Gryffindors were too nervous to sleep. The first rays of dawn began to peep through the windows when Professor McGonagall finally returned, looking grave and tired.

"Unfortunately, Sirius Black seems to have made another successful escape," she told them. "The entire castle has been searched and he was nowhere to be found. I suggest you all get some sleep now. But you, Longbottom," her eyes flashed at Neville. "Will follow me to my office." "Neville followed her out, trembling.

Next Tuesday morning at breakfast, Sophie was sitting next to Neville (Hermione had already eaten breakfast in a hurry and returned to the common room to study) and two owls swooped down in front of them. One was Alazne carrying a letter from her parents and the other, which had landed in front of Neville, was a barn owl she didn't recognize carrying-

Neville let out a little choke of fear. The envelope was a brilliant red, which could only mean one thing: his grandmother had sent him a Howler.

"Run for it, Neville." Ron told him.

Neville grabbed the letter and raced out of the Great Hall with it, while Malfoy and his cronies doubled over in laughter at the sight of him. Sophie glared at them, but they were too busy laughing to notice.

While looking in that direction, Sophie caught Lily's eye, who gave her a half-smile back.

"...SUCH HORRENDOUS DISGRACE...SHOULD BE ASHAMED...THE DISHONOUR YOU"VE BROUGHT TO THE FAMILY NAME..."

Sophie tried hard to ignore Mrs. Longbottom's shrieks and was very glad when at last they finally ceased.

After breakfast, as she was leaving the Great Hall, Sophie ran into Lily and Tracey.

"Hi," said Sophie.

"Hey," said Lily. "That was pretty awful for that poor boy."

Sophie nodded. "I know."

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle walked by at that moment, still guffawing about Neville's misfortune. Lily rolled her eyes. "Such a git. Well, I'll see you around, Sophie."

Tracey smiled in parting. "See you," said Sophie.

Sophie sighed and rubbed her head as she gave the password to the Fat Lady so she and Neville could enter Gryffindor Tower. She hadn't gone to Hogsmeade with everyone else as Hermione had said she had too much work to do to go and she felt somehow that it would be betraying Hermione to go with Ron (and, she suspected, Harry, though she tried to push that thought away). Instead she had found Neville in the library (he had been forbidden to go to Hogsmeade after the incident with the passwords, and had had a very trying time helping him with his vampire essay. They were just now returning to the common room where Sophie spotted Hermione in a corner and went to her. She was holding a piece of parchment in her hands and looked awful.

"Hermione," said Sophie. "What's the matter?"

"It's...it's Hagrid," Hermione rubbed her eyes. "The Committee has convicted Buckbeak!"

Sophie's stomach gave a jolt. "You mean..."

Hermione made a little choking noise. "They're going to kill him!"

Sophie swallowed hard. It was a great blow. "Hermione..."

Hermione stood up. "I think we should find Ron and Harry and tell them. They should know."

Sophie nodded and the two of them climbed out through the portrait hole. Coincidentally, Harry and Ron were walking towards the portrait hole at the same time. Ron glared at Hermione and said meanly,

"Come to have a good gloat? Or have you just been to tell on us?"

Hermione overlooked his rudeness. "No. I just thought you ought to know... Hagrid lost his case. Buckbeak is going to be executed. He sent me this."

Harry took the parchment and read it. "They can't do this. They can't. Buckbeak isn't dangerous."

"Malfoy's dad's frightened the Committee into it, you know what he's like," said Hermione. "They're a bunch of doddery old fools, and they were scared. There'll be an appeal, though, there always is. Only I can't see any hope... Nothing will have changed."

"Yeah, it will."

Sophie glanced at Ron, surprised. He sounded very determined, and no longer mean.

"You and Sophie won't have to do all the work alone this time, Hermione. I'll help."

Hermione sobbed harder at this and seized Ron around his neck, crying into his shoulder. Despite the sobriety of the situation, Sophie couldn't help finding the sight of Ron looking utterly bewildered at this state of affairs rather amusing. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Harry who gave her a brief smile before they looked away from each other.

Hagrid regarded the situation as completely hopeless when they spoke to him next Care of Magical Creatures class. "That Committee's in Lucius Malfoy's pocket. I'm jus' gonna make sure the rest o' Beaky's time is the happiest he's ever had. I owe him that..." Hagrid was weeping and hid his face in his enormous handkerchief as he made his way back to his cabin.

Sophie then heard the unpleasant and unwelcome sound of a voice she knew well and detested:

"Look at him blubber! Have you ever seen anything quite as pathetic? And he's supposed to be our teacher!"

The words had hardly left Malfoy's mouth when suddenly Hermione had reached him, her arm raised. _Slap!_

"Don't you dare call Hagrid pathetic, you foul-you evil -" Ron tried to pull her hand back. "Get off, Ron!" She pulled out her wand.

Malfoy looked very much taken aback. "C'mon," he said to Crabbe and Goyle, who followed him meekly away. Sophie watched her cousin disappear into the passageway that led to the Slytherin common room, then looked back at Hermione with renewed awe, feeling that, finally, something had gone right.

Sophie walked to Arithmancy with Hermione that afternoon and noticed her friend seemed slightly happier than usual, a slight smile playing about her lips.

"What is it?" Sophie asked her.

"I've decided to drop Divination," said Hermione.

Sophie grinned at her. "This is the best day you've had in a while."

**People, I am SO sorry that this has taken this long. The best excuse I can offer is that I moved and a few areas of my life underwent major upheaval. My deepest apologies; I have missed writing Sophie SO MUCH. I am going to seriously try to get back into the rhythm of writing these things now. I really hope I will be update much more regularly from here on out. **


	21. The Impossible Truth

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**The Impossible Truth**

On Thursday of their exam week, after their last exam, Hermione received a letter from Hagrid explaining that Buckbeak had been sentenced to execution that evening. Unable to bear the thought of Hagrid facing Buckbeak's death alone, Sophie, Hermione, Harry and Ron had gone out to visit him in his hut wearing the Invisibility Cloak. While there, Hermione made a startling discovery.

"Ron," she gasped, staring into Hagrid's milk jug. "I don't believe it-it's Scabbers!"

"What are you talking about?...Scabbers! Scabbers, what are you doing here?" asked Ron, taking hold of his rat. "It's okay, Scabbers! No cats! There's nothing here to hurt you!"

"They're comin'... yeh gotta go, they mustn' find yeh here...go now..." intoned Hagrid, gazing out the window at a group of approaching wizards consisting of Dumbledore, Fudge, and the executioner. "I'll let yeh out the back way."

Hagrid let them out into his garden where Buckbeak was tethered. Hagrid spoke soothingly to him and instructed the others to leave swiftly. They protested but Hagrid spoke over them.

"Go! It's bad enough without you lot in trouble an' all! Go quick. Don' listen..."

Hermione seized the cloak and they concealed themselves underneath it, starting back up to the castle. Suddenly, Ron halted.

"It's Scabbers," Ron explained. "He won't-stay put -"

Ron was struggling with Scabbers when suddenly there came the sound of swishing air and an axe being driven into something. A lump grew in Sophie's throat. Poor Hagrid...She hated the idea of an innocent animal being put to death for something Draco Malfoy was responsible for.

Scabbers was still very unsettled and writhing in Ron's hands till he broke free.

"Scabbers-NO!" shouted Ron as Scabbers scurried away at top speed. Ron ducked out from under the cloak and sprinted after his rat.

"Oh no," Sophie groaned. After a moment's hesitation she too left the confines of the cloak and followed after Ron. She could hear Hermione and Harry running behind her.

When they all finally caught up with Ron and Scabbers, a strange sound came top their ears. Sophie looked round and saw a great black dog racing towards them, showing no sign of slowing down.

The dog slammed into Harry, knocking him to the ground. Before any of the others could help, however, the dog had tumbled off Harry, and seemed to gather its bearings before charging at Ron. The dog snatched Ron's arm in its mouth and dragged him away. Sophie made to follow after him, but suddenly a great whip-like object slashed her across the chest and she fell backwards, the wind knocked out of her.

Harry lit his wand and shone it forwards; he, Sophie and Hermione were laying at the base of the Whomping Willow, which had just smacked them. Sophie was barely able, through its branches to catch a glimpse of Ron being dragged on the ground by the black dog. Then, suddenly, they couldn't see Ron anymore for he and the dog had disappeared from sight.

Eventually Sophie, Hermione and Harry made it through to the trunk where they came to a cavity in between the large roots of the tree. Harry crawled inside, Sophie right behind him and Hermione behind her. Sophie felt herself sliding down a slope in darkness into what seemed like a tunnel.

Hermione's voice spoke out of the darkness, "Where's Ron?"

"The dog must have dragged him along in here," said Sophie, putting her hands to the ground, trying to feel for any sign of their having just passed through.

Harry started to move along the tunnel. "This way."

The tunnel was extremely long and Sophie's back and legs hurt a great deal from being bent over while she walked. The three of them were almost half-running, or as close as they could to this while being doubled over, not wanting to leave Ron alone with that dog. Harry said on the Marauder's Map it looked like this tunnel went into Hogsmeade...

"Come on, come on," murmured Harry as they went along.

"At least he's got his wand," murmured Sophie. She knew it was small comfort, though. "Um, is it just me, or are we walking upwards?"

They were; the tunnel had become an incline, and suddenly light appeared from up above. Shining their wands towards the light, they could make out an old, dilapidated room above. Harry glanced back at Sophie and Hermione.

"Let's go," Sophie breathed. Harry hauled himself up through the opening, the two girls following behind him. They stood up in the room.

"I think we're in the Shrieking Shack," said Hermione.

Sophie glanced around. "Isn't it supposed to be haunted?"

A creaking noise came from the ceiling above. They glanced upwards.

"Ron," said Sophie. She looked round at the other two who nodded their assent.

They made their way up a staircase and into the room above. They could hear noises behind one door and Harry, who was in the lead, raised his foot and kicked open the door.

Ron was sitting on the floor, his leg seemingly broken. The three of them ran to him, but as they reached him and asked how he was, Sophie had a strange feeling, as though she could sense the presence of another person behind her, watching them. She looked over her shoulder and never forgot the sight that reached her eyes.

"He's the dog," moaned Ron. "He's an Animagus."

A tall, thin man was closing the door behind them. He had long black hair and appeared skeletal. His eyes were dark and his teeth were bared in a wicked smile. Sophie had seen his photograph in the papers too many times to wonder who he was. She was frozen to the spot, too full of shock to react properly as she stared at her cousin, his insane eyes fixed on them as he raised Ron's wand.

"Expelliarmus!" Sirius Black cried.

Sophie's wand slipped from her fingers and flew t0 Sirius's hand, as did Harry's and Hermione's. Sirius was gazing at Harry.

"I thought you'd come and help your friend. Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you not to run for a teacher. I'm grateful...it will make everything much easier..."

"If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too!" Ron cried. Sophie turned around and saw that he had somehow hoisted himself up on his good leg and was clutching at harry so as not to fall over. Sophie moved towards him and supported his other side.

"Lie down. You will damage that leg even more," said Sirius.

"Did you hear me? You'll have to kill all four of us!"

Sirius spoke, "There'll be only one murder here tonight."

"What's the matter?" asked Harry. "Gone soft in Azkaban?"

"Harry! Be quiet!" Hermione moaned.

"HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!" screamed Harry, charging towards Sirius Black.

"Harry, no!" shouted Sophie. As Harry left Ron had fallen hard against her and Hermione grabbed him to stop the two of them from toppling over. All three of them were screaming and yelling in confusion as Harry punched Sirius in the head and they fell against the wall, Harry madly beating him, Sirius holding the four wands limply.

Hermione lunged forwards (Sophie was still supporting Ron) and drove her foot into Sirius, forcing him to let got of Harry. As Sirius moved upwards his wand hand came within Ron's reach and Ron disentangled himself from Sophie and threw himself onto Sirius' arm knocking the wands out of his hand. Sophie hurriedly picked them up. For a few moments the five of them were in complete chaos, bodies flailing madly around. When she was able, Sophie returned the wands to their proper owners.

"Get out of the way!" cried Harry.

Sophie, Hermione and Ron retreated, Ron hoisting himself onto a bed to give his leg some rest. Sophie and Hermione stood on either side. Sirius was on the ground as Harry walked towards him, wand pointed at him.

"Going to kill me, Harry?"

"...If you knew the whole story-" began Sirius

"I understand a lot better than you think. You never heard her, did you?" said Harry. Sophie, Hermione and Ron were very still, their gazes transfixed by Harry. "My mum... trying to stop Voldemort killing me... and you did that... you did it..."

Sophie's breath caught in her throat as she heard faint footsteps coming from below.

"WE'RE UP HERE! WE'RE UP HERE!" Hermione shouted. "SIRIUS BLACK-QUICK!"

The door flew open and Lupin appeared. "Expelliarmus!"

Lupin had disarmed Sophie, Hermione, Harry and Ron. "Where is he, Sirius?" Lupin asked. Sirius pointed at Ron. "But then...why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless- unless he was the one...unless you switched...without telling me?"

Sirius nodded.

"Professor, what's going on -?" began Harry, but then stopped abruptly as Lupin helped sirius up at -Sophie felt as though she had been pucnhed- hugged him.

Hermione shrieked, "I DON'T BELIEVE IT You-you - you and him I didn't tell anyone! I've been covering up for you -"

Lupin cried, "Hermione, listen to me, please! I can explain -"

Harry spoke up. "I trusted you and all the time you've been his friend!"

"You're wrong. I haven't been Sirius's friend, but I am now-Let me explain..."

"NO! Harry, don't trust him," insisted Hermione. "He's been helping Black get into the

castle, he wants you dead too-he's a werewolf!"

Sophie's gaze snapped from Hermione to Lupin. _Werewolf_?

"I have not been helping Sirius get into the castle," said Lupin. And I certainly don't want Harry dead. An odd shiver passed over his face. "But I won't deny that I am a werewolf."

Ron shifted on the bed, trying to get up, Sophie reached over to him to help him and Lupin stepped towards them, but Ron spoke harshly,"Get away from us, werewolf!"

Sophie swallowed hard.

Lupin went on to explain how he had watched the four of them sneak out to Hagrid's on the Marauder's Map that evening and how he had seen them accompanied, on leaving the hut, by a fifth person who Lupin and Sirius claimed, absurdly, was Peter Pettigrew who lived in Animagus form as Ron's rat, Scabbers.

After returning their wands to them Lupin explained further, saying how his friends at school, James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew had all became Animagi so that they could be with him when he transformed into a werewolf in the Shrieking Shack. James Potter had been a stag, Sirius a dog and Peter a rat. Together they explored Hogwarts and Hogsmeade and had written the Marauders' Map.

It was soon after this that none other than Snape arrived in the room.

"You're wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here? I've just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along. And very lucky I did... lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight...I've told the headmaster again and again that you're helping your old friend Black

into the castle, Lupin, and here's the proof...

Snape bound Lupin with cords shot from his wand. Then he turned his wand on Sirius.

"Give me a reason. Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will."

"Professor Snape," began Hermione tentatively. "It-it wouldn't hurt to hear what

they've got to say, w-would it?"

"Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from this school. You, Potter, Tonks and Weasley are out-of-bounds, in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life, hold your tongue."

"But," Hermione went on courageously. "If-if there was a mistake -"

"KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL! DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!"

"You -you've got to hear me out The rat," stammered Sirius. "Look at the rat -"

Snape spoke over him. "Come on, all of you." Harry walked over to the door, blocking it. "Like father, like son, Potter! I have just saved your neck; you should be thanking

me on bended knee! You would have been well served if he'd killed you! You'd have died

like your father, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black-now get out of

the way, or I will make you. GET OUT OF THE WAY, POTTER!"

Sophie was terrified at the sight of Snape advancing on Harry in this way, and instinctively raised her wand. "Expelliarmus!" she shouted, and found, to her surprise, that her incantation mingled with the voices of Harry, Hermione and Ron performing the same spell. Snape slammed into the wall, his head lolling to one side. They had rendered him unconscious.

Sirius untied Lupin. "You, boy," Lupin said to Ron. "Give me Peter, please. Now."

Ron protested. "Come off it. Are you trying to say he broke out of Azkaban just to

get his hands on Scabbers? I mean...OK, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat-there are millions of rats-how's he supposed to know which one he's after if he was locked up in Azkaban?"

Sirius explained how he had seen Scabbers' picture in the _Daily Prophet_ last summer when Ron and his family had been on the cover and had recognized Peter in his Animagus form. He continued on, explaining how he had communicated with Crookshanks and gotten him to steal the password to Gryffindor Tower to try and get in and get Peter Pettigrew...but Pettigrew had left blood on Ron's sheets to make everyone think he was dead again...

Lupin spoke up. "Harry, don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down-but it was the other way around, don't you see? Peter betrayed your mother and father-Sirius tracked Peter down -"

Sophie was holding her breath almost without realizing it. Could it be true was Sirius really...innocent? She hardly dared believe it. And yet, there was a resonance to Sirius and Lupin's words. They fitted with events; they were incredible, but if Scabbers was really not what he appeared to be...

"Enough of this. There's one certain way to prove what really happened," said Lupin, determinedly. "Ron, give me that rat."

Eventually Ron relented and surrendered Scabbers. Lupin and Sirius (the latter using Snape's wand) performed a spell on the rat, and in a flash, a small man was standing where Scabbers had been a moment before.

Sophie stared, flabbergasted. Scabbers...Ron's rat...she had known him for three years, and all this time, _all this time_...

"Remus," whimpered Pettigrew. "You don't believe him, do you...? He tried to kill me, Remus...He's come to try and kill me again! He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me too... You've got to help me, Remus...I knew he'd come after me! I

knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!"

Lupin asked, "You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban? When nobody has ever done it before?"

Pettigrew nodded. "He's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of! How else did he get out of there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few

tricks!"

"Voldemort, teach me tricks? What, scared to hear your old master's name?...You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years. You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter... They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them... I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them..."

Sophie gave an involuntary twitch. Sirius had been imprisoned, probably right near the Lestranges. Was he describing their behaviour? She gazed at Sirius. He was innocent; she believed him now. His story was almost unbelievable, but it corroborated events. Still, there was one things she didn't quite understand...

"I –" Sirius' eyes snapped to Sophie; his body twitched as he looked at Sophie almost for the first time, an amazed and intrigued expression on his face. "I was just wondering how you got out of prison?"

Sirius gazed at Sophie for several moments in silence, then broke his stare away and looked down, apparently formulating how to respond to her.

Eventually he did reply, explaining how his Animagus form had offered him protection from the Dementors to an extent, and how his resistance to them had improved when he'd realized where Pettigrew was. He described slipping through the bars of his cell as a very thin dog when the Dementors had opened the door to bring him food, and swimming back to the mainland.

Eventually the other three were convinced too of Sirius' innocence. Pettigrew was greatly disturbed, and turned to them for support.

"Ron," he gasped. "Haven't I been a good friend... a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you... you're on my side, aren't you?"

"I let you sleep in my bed!" Ron was in repulsed shock.

Pettigrew turned to Hermione.

"Sweet girl... clever girl... you-you won't let them... Help me..."

Hermione backed away from Pettigrew and he turned his attention to Sophie.

"You don't believe them, do you? You're right, he couldn't have escaped Azkaban-"

"Get away from me," said Sophie in a low voice. She did not back away like Hermione, but stood with her feet planted and arms folded. She was not inclined to be the one to support Pettigrew in any way after what he'd done to Harry's parents...to Sirius...to her Mum...

Sirius and Lupin would have killed Sirius, but Harry stopped them. He said he did not think his father would have wanted Sirius and Lupin to become murderers for the likes of Peter Pettigrew and said they ought to hand him over to the Dementors by the castle instead. Sirius and Lupin agreed and tied him up, saying that if he did transform, they would kill him.

After settling this, they splintered Ron's leg, enchanted Snape's body so as to bring him along without waking him, and Lupin and Ron volunteered to be tied to Pettigrew to ensure that he didn't escape. In this way they left the Shrieking Shack, Ron, Pettigrew and Lupin in front of Snape being held aloft by Sirius followed by Sophie, Hermione and Harry.

While they were making their way along the tunnel Sirius mentioned to Harry that, as his godfather, he had been appointed Harry's guardian and that Harry could live with him if he wanted, once his name was cleared.

"Have you got a house?" cried Harry. "When can I move in?"

Sophie exchanged a glance with Hermione, though they could hardly make each other out in the dark of the tunnel. How wonderful if Harry could leave the Dursleys, live with Sirius...Sirius! Suddenly it all hit Sophie beautifully: Sirius, the one her mother had never been able to understand how he could have gone so bad, was really innocent. She could see him again...and Harry would be living with him. It all seemed almost too good to be true.

Outside the tunnel they started making their way up to the school. Once outside, with a bit more light, Sirius turned and glanced again at Sophie. He opened his mouth as if about to say something to her when there was a sudden disturbance up ahead and his head snapped back around.

The moon had come out. It was a full moon, and Lupin, Pettigrew and Ron had stopped abruptly. Sophie stared in abject horror as Lupin's body began to tremble.

"Oh, my -he didn't take his potion tonight!" cried Hermione. Sophie felt a jolt of fear shoot through her mid-section. "He's not safe!"

"Run. Run!" said Sirius to Sophie, Hermione and Harry. "Now!"

Sophie did not want to run and leave Ron tied to a werewolf. She ran forwards instinctively, but crashed into Harry's back and the two of them fell backwards onto the ground. Harry scrambled off of her as she realized that he had tried to do the same as she had and Sirius had prevented them. The two of them stood up.

"Leave it to me," commanded Sirius. "RUN!" He transformed into a dog and ran at Lupin -who was now in werewolf form- and clamped his jaws around its neck, dragging the werewolf away from Ron and Pettigrew.

Fearing what Pettigrew would do, turned her gaze on him and saw him glance towards the wand that Lupin had dropped when he transformed.

"No!" she screamed, absurdly running towards him. Pettigrew glanced up and saw her coming and took his chance. He leapt towards the wand, and Sophie ran to prevent him from reaching it. They got to it at almost the same moment, but Sophie was not quite quick enough. Pettigrew jerked the wand through her fingers and directed it at her.

Sophie felt something white hot lash on her face and heard a deafening bang that sent her flailing to the ground and she knew no more.


	22. Chaos and Clarity

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**Chaos and Clarity**

Sophie gazed out the window of the Hogwarts Express as it rolled through the countryside. She reflected that, for having lived only fourteen and a half years she had experienced some pretty stunning events, but nothing that -to her own mind, at least- quite matched up with the unbelievability of the events that had taken place several weeks previous.

No one other than she, Hermione, Harry, Ron and Professor Dumbledore knew exactly what had happened. Sophie had awakened after Pettigrew had knocked her out in the hospital wing with Hermione, Harry and Ron. As it turned out, Pettigrew had used the same curse on Ron and he too had been rendered unconscious. Hermione explained that, after this, Pettigrew had transformed and escaped ("What? No!" Sophie had cried, sitting bolt upright in bed and then wincing with pain), Lupin had run off and Hermione, Harry and Sirius were attacked by Dementors and all passed out. Professor Snape had then woken up and magicked all five of their unconscious bodies to the castle where Sirius was locked up while arrangements were made to perform the Dementor's Kiss on him. Fortunately Dumbledore told Hermione and Harry to use Hermione's Time Turner ("Your what?" Ron and Sophie had yelped simultaneously) that she she had been using that year to get to all her lessons (Sophie gave her a half-exasperated, half-amused look) to turn back time, rescue Buckbeak from execution and have Sirius fly away on him before returning to the hospital wing.

"Nothing will ever amaze me ever ever again," Sophie had said once Hermione had finished.

The four friends were now sitting in their own compartment on the train ride home.

"I've decided to drop Muggle Studies," announced Hermione.

"That's a brilliant idea," returned Sophie. The corner of Hermione's mouth twitched in an almost-smile.

"It's the Quidditch World Cup this summer!" said Ron. "How about it, Harry? Come and stay and we'll go and see it. Dad can usually get tickets from work; I'll invite all of you."

Sophie straightened up in her seat. She had completely forgotten about the World Cup given the flurry of recent events. Now there was something to look forward to...

Late that afternoon a strange owl arrived outside their compartment bearing a letter from Sirius to Harry. The letter explained that Sirius was hiding in a far-off, undisclosed location. He revealed that he had indeed sent Harry the Firebolt and was now sending him signed permission for Harry to go on Hogsmeade trips, and invited Ron to keep the little owl that bore the letter in place of Scabbers. There was also a postscript for Sophie.

Harry read, "Could you ask your friend Sophie whether she has ever heard of Andromeda Tonks or Andromeda Black? She was my cousin and your friend reminded me of her." The other three stared at Sophie. "Sophie-?" asked Harry.

"That's my mum," Sophie explained. "She and Sirius are first cousins."

The other three stared at her in amazement for a moment. "Why didn't you tell us?" asked Ron.

Sophie shrugged. "What could I have said? 'Hey, Harry, you know that madman who's out to kill you and who betrayed your parents to Voldemort? The one you're thinking of doing in? Well, he's my mum's cousin and they used to get on when they were kids'?" She looked at them. "I couldn't."

Hermione sighed. "Well I guess you should write him back and tell him." She gave Sophie and appraising glance. "Are you going to tell your mum he's innocent?"

Sophie raised her eyebrows as she pulled some parchment and a quill from her trunk. "I can't, can I? I would sound like a lunatic and Dumbledore wouldn't want us to spread it around."

The other three returned to their games of Exploding Snap while Sophie inscribed a reply to Sirius:

_Dear Sirius,_

_Andromeda Tonks is my mother. She remembers you from when you were a kid and always found it hard to believe that you'd turned out so awful, so I must say, apart from the obvious reasons, I am very glad to know you are innocent and didn't really end up like the rest of the Blacks. I would very much like to tell all this to Mum, only Dumbledore reckons we shouldn't tell anyone about you for the time being, so I won't. At the very least, it's lifted some weight off of me to know that Mum isn't the only decent Black. I hope you and Buckbeak (he's the Hippogriff) are well. _

_Your cousin,_

_Sophie Tonks_

She tied the letter to Alazne's leg and let her fly out the window. She watched her tawny owl soar along in the air, flying higher and further away until she had completely receded into the clouds.

Ron was as good as his word. That August he wrote informing Sophie that his father had got tickets for the Top Box of all places and was inviting her, Hermione and Harry to come and see it with them. Sophie had asked her parents at once if she could go and to her delight they responded in the affirmative. Her parents were not overly fond of Quidditch themselves and Dora was going with a group of her friends, though they wouldn't be in the Top Box and Sophie knew Dora was jealous of her, which she couldn't help feeling secretly glad about.

Mrs. Tonks had improved since last summer; she did not appear to be dwelling on Sirius so much, which greatly relieved Sophie as she didn't want to be tempted to spill the truth about Sirius. Both her parents, however, were very preoccupied with Dora just then and Sophie felt she had somehow slipped under their radar; as if she could have stood in the middle of a room with them and screamed the truth about Sirius and neither would have batted an eye, so focused were their thoughts on their elder daughter. That June Dora had graduated Auror training and was now a fully-fledged Auror working at the Ministry. Sophie was happy for her sister as well, but a part of her couldn't help feeling shunted to the side and forgotten as everyone exclaimed over Dora's accomplishment. It was strange that Dora had suddenly seemed to become such an overwhelming presence because, in actual fact, she was no longer living at home and had gotten her own place in London, though she still showed up at their home nearly every day to visit.

One Saturday late in August Sophie packed some of her things into a smallish suitcase for a weekend of visiting the Weasleys and attending the Quidditch World Cup. She kissed her parents goodbye and, throwing Floo Powder into the flames, stepped into them and spoke, "The Burrow!" and felt the familiar sensation of being whisked away.

Sophie stepped nimbly out into the Weasleys' kitchen where the sight of Ron greeted her.

"Hi Sophie,"

"Hi Ron." Sophie spotted a small redheaded girl sitting at the table behind Ron with a man wearing his red hair in a long ponytail and a fanged earring in one ear. "Hey Ginny."

"Hi Sophie," returned Ginny. "This is Bill, our oldest brother."

Bill nodded and smiled at Sophie. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," replied Sophie.

"Come and see where you're staying, Sophie," said Ginny, standing up.

Sophie walked with Ginny up the narrow staircase as the latter talked. "Hermione'll be here a little later and they're going to get Harry tomorrow," Ginny explained, opening the door to her bedroom (location?)

"Harpies, huh?" said Sophie, glancing at the poster on the wall.

"Yeah," said Ginny. "They've been really good since Gwenog Jones was made Captain."

"I suppose," said Sophie, sitting opposite Ginny on her bed. "She just always sounds like such a snob in interviews."

"True," conceded Ginny. "Nice nose stud. It's new, right? I don't remember seeing you with it before."

"Yeah, I just got it," said Sophie, her left hand automatically reaching up to finger the silver nose stud. "My sister convinced me."

"Looks good," said Ginny. "Mum would have a fit if I asked to pierce my nose. She hasn't stopped harping on Bill about his earring and his hair since he got here."

Sophie laughed 'I like those on him."

Ginny grinned back. "Me too."

Mr. Weasley arrived later that afternoon with Hermione in tow. He was babbling excitedly about the conversation he'd had with Hermione's Muggle parents. A grin spread across Sophie's face as she saw her best friend again and hey exchanged hugs and greetings.

The three girls spent the night in Ginny's room and stayed up far into the night chatting with each other.

"Looking forward to the Quidditch?" Sophie asked Hermione teasingly. She knew Quidditch was not Hermione's interest of choice.

"Of course I am," Hermione responded airily. "And I'm looking forward to seeing Harry as well. Ron said he's arriving tomorrow."

Although the room was dark, by the light of their wands Sophie could see a blush spreading over Ginny's cheeks. She quickly cleared her throat and said, "I'm so glad Dad got such great tickets; we'll have a great view being in the Top Box. I just love Quidditch."

"Can you fly?" Sophie questioned.

Ginny nodded. "I've been breaking into my brothers' brrom shed for seven years now and practicing on them, so I'm decent. Nothing like Ha-, well, you know..." Her voice trailed off.

Sophie and Hermione exchanged a glance.

Sophie had settled herself into her seat in the Top Box at the enormous Quidditch World Cup stadium and was fiddling with her Omnioculars when she caught a bit of what Fudge, the Minister, was saying behind her:

"...trying to cadge all the best places...ah, and here's Lucius!"

_Oh, great_, thought Sophie. Why hadn't she thought before that the Malfoys would probably be in the Top Box? Of course, they wouldn't be anywhere else. She inwardly berated herself for not realizing this. Sure enough, when she turned around she saw the tall figure of Lucius Malfoy followed by Draco who was followed by a woman whose facial features looked vaguely familiar to Sophie.

Sophie knew at once that this woman was Narcissa Malfoy, her mother's younger sister; though neither sister had spoken to the other in over twenty years. Sophie had never seen her before and yet she could not help herself from feeling rather curious, however, to at least see the woman with whom her mother had grown up, and so gazed rather intently at her aunt.

Narcissa was pale with long light blonde hair and was very pretty, though her nose was wrinkled in disgust. Beyond the few facial features that had caught her eye, Narcissa did not look much like Mum, Sophie decided.

While Lucius Malfoy and the Minister exchanged pleasantries, Narcissa's gaze moved along the row and came to rest on Sophie. Sophie saw a spark of recognition in her aunt's face as her blue eyes took in Sophie's appearance and she knew Narcissa understood who she was. Sophie only looked at her aunt for a moment more, then looked away unconcernedly and picked up her Omnioculars again, focusing them in preparation for the match. What did she care?

The Irish Chasers were incredible and though Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker, caught the Snitch, Ireland won the Cup. Sophie, Hermione, Harry and the Weasleys had a great time celebrating the Irish victory that evening and Sophie felt so exhilarated that night as she lay down on the bed in the tent she was sharing with Hermione and Ginny that she wondered if she would ever get to sleep...

"Ginny! Sophie! Hermione! Wake up!"

Mr. Weasley's voice jerked Sophie awake. She raised her head from her pillow and saw that Mr. Weasley had poked his head into the entrance of their tent.

"You need to get up," he told them. "No time to dress; there's a disturbance outside!" His head disappeared.

Sophie exchanged alarmed glances with the other two, then hurriedly grabbed a coat and flung it over her nightgown and slipped her feet into some shoes. Hermione and Ginny imitated her and the three of them straggled outside where Mr. Weasley was standing, agitated.

"What's going on, Dad?" asked Ginny.

"There's a group tormenting Muggles in the clearing," said Mr. Weasley shortly. Sophie, Hermione and Ginny looked at each other, shocked, as they converged with Harry, Ron, Fred and George all wearing jackets over their pajamas. Bill, Charlie and Percy were fully dressed and going off towards the troublemakers in the clearing.

"We're going to help the Ministry! You lot - get into the woods, and stick together. I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out!"

The seven of them headed further back into the woods away from the hooded and masked figures levitating the Muggles in the air. People were rushing past them and it was difficult not to lose each other as the waves of oncoming people threatened to drown them.

"Augh!" shouted Ron, stopping abruptly and falling face forward. Sophie had been walking behind him and she too stumbled and lost her balance, falling beside Ron.

"What happened? Ron, Sophie, where are you?" Hermione's voice came from above and ahead. "Oh this is stupid - _Lumos_!"

Sophie got to her feet and extended her hand to Ron.

"Tripped over a tree root," Ron explained, taking her hand and regaining his footing.

"Well," came Draco Malfoy's easily recognizable voice. "With feet that size, hard not to."

"Bugger off, Malfoy," snarled Ron.

"Language, Weasley. Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't like her spotted, would you?" asked Malfoy, indicating Hermione.

Hermione said boldly, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Granger, they're after Muggles. D'you want to be showing off your knickers in midair? Because if you do, hang around," Malfoy continued. "They're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh."

"Hermione's a witch," said Harry firmly.

"Have it your own way, Potter. If you think they can't spot a Mudblood, stay where you are."

Ron cried, "You watch your mouth!"

"Language, Malfoy," mimicked Sophie.

Malfoy glared at Sophie. "Shut up, Tonks." Turning to Ron, he said, "All going to hide? What's your daddy up to - trying to rescue the Muggles?"

"Where're _your_ parents? Out there wearing masks, are they?" Harry responded.

"Well..." said Malfoy, as if he were considering, though he wore a smirk. "If they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you, would I Potter?"

"Go to hell, Malfoy," said Sophie before turning with Hermione, Harry and Ron and continuing away.

"Keep that big bushy head down, Granger," Malfoy called after them with a snigger.

"I'll bet you anything his dad is one of that masked lot!" declared Ron.

They soon realized that they had lost Fred, George and Ginny when Ron tripped, but then Harry realized something else:

"Ah, no, I don't believe it!" he cried. "I've lost my wand!"

They used the light from their wands to look over the surrounding area, but there was no sign of it. Soon they were distracted by the appearance of Winky, Mr. Crouch's (the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation) elf that they had met in the Top Box while she saved her master a seat. She appeared very frightened and didn't seem able to run normally.

"You know," said Hermione forcefully. "House-elves get a very raw deal! it's slavery, that's what it is! That Mr. Crouch made her go up to the top of the stadium, and she was terrified, and he's got her bewitched so she can't even run when they start trampling tents! Why doesn't anyone do something about it?"

Ron pointed out that the house-elves themselves were perfectly content with this arrangement, but Hermione dismissed this.

"It's people like you, Ron," Hermione began hotly, "who prop up rotten and unjust systems, just because they're too lazy to -"

"Let's just keep moving, shall we?" Ron interjected.

They continued on until they were far enough away from the action, indeed, they were all alone and the forest was almost silent.

"Imagine if your dad catches Lucius Malfoy," said Harry to Ron. "He's always said he'd like to get something on him."

"Well, I don't see how the evidence could get much more incriminating than if he's caught here," said Sophie.

Ron grinned. "That'd wipe the smirk off old Draco's face, all right."

"Mad, though," Hermione said, "To do something like that when the whole Ministry of Magic's out here tonight! I mean, how do they expect to get away with it? Do you think they've been drinking, or are they just -"

The sound of snapping twigs suddenly caught their attention. It seemed as though someone were approaching. Sophie stood up and held her wand out, glancing apprehensively around her into the darkened woods. Harry tried calling out.

"Hello? Who's there?"

"_MORSMORDRE_!"

As the voice screamed out, a green formation shot into the sky and materialized as a green skull with a snake flowing from its mouth like a demented tongue. It was familiar to Sophie who realized, after a momet, that she was seeing the mark her parents had always spoken of: the Dark Mark, Voldemort's symbol that he and his followers used.

"Sophie, Harry, come on, move!" cried Hermione. "It's the Dark Mark! You-Know-Who's sign!"

"_Voldemort's _- " began Harry.

"Yes," said Sophie, grabbing Harry's hand, realizing their instant need to be away from that place. "We need to go now."

Before they had gone several paces, however, wizards Apparated all around them, wands pointed straight at them.

"DUCK!" shouted Harry.

Sophie dove to the ground obediently as the wizards cast Stunners that flew straight over their heads. Sophie shuddered and could feel Hermione shaking next to her.

"Stop! STOP!" Sophie recognized Mr. Weasley's voice and felt a wave of relief sweep over her. "That's my son!"

The Ministry wizards stopped firing Stunners when they realized that they had been sending them at a group of teenagers. As it transpired, Winky the house-elf was found with Harry's wand in the trees and it had been Harry's wand that someone had used to send up the Dark Mark. Mr. Crouch was furious with Winky and dismissed her immediately, and Harry's wand was returned to him. Mr. Weasley led the four of them away.

Hermione was very angry about the way Mr. Crouch and Mr. Diggory had handled Winky.

"The way they were treating her!" Hermione continued on about how unfair Winky's treatment seemed to her. Soon they arrived back at their tents and they all went inside the boys' tent to rendezvous with Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George and Ginny.

After explaining what had happened, Ron asked,

"Look, can someone just explain what that skull thing was? It wasn't hurting anyone… Why's it such a big deal?"

"Ron," explained Mr. Weasley. "You-Know-Who and his followers sent the Dark Mark into the air whenever they killed. The terror it inspired… you have no idea, you're too young. Just picture coming home and finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house, and knowing what you're about to find inside…Everyone's worst fear… the very worst."

"Well," said Bill, matter-of-factly. "It didn't help us tonight, whoever conjured it. It scared the Death Eaters away the moment they saw it. They all Disapparated before we'd got near enough to unmask any of them."

"We can't prove it was them, Bill. Though it probably was," said Mr. Weasley.

"Yeah, I bet it was! Dad, we met Draco Malfoy in the woods, and we all know the Malfoys were right in with You-Know-Who!" cried Ron.

Mrs. Tonks sighed. Sophie was back at home in Soliworth at the breakfast table with her parents. "Lucius was always enthralled with the Dark Arts. And he was arrogant; even at school he behaved that way. Certainly I can imagine him out there tormenting Muggles; he may even have instigated it."

She pushed a bowl of oatmeal towards Sophie as they sat at the breakfast table that morning. Sophie reluctantly picked up a spoon and poked at her oatmeal, though she didn't feel much like eating. "It was a pretty dumb thing to do," she said. "With all the Ministry people there and everything. We had just seen the Malfoys in the Top Box as the MInister's guests, and then he just turned around and..."

"They'd all probably had a few drinks," said Mr. Tonks. "It sounds like the sort of lapse of judgment Lucius'd have."

There was a short pause before Mrs. Tonks asked tentatively, "So all the Malfoys, er, saw you in the Top Box, Sophronia?"

Sophie shrugged as though it was no big deal. "Sure. She –I mean, they- were all pretty disgusted, at...us, I think. All of us."

Nothing more was said about the Malfoys that day in the Tonks home, but Sophie didn't need to hear the words spoken aloud to know what thoughts her parents silently harboured: _If Cissy saw you, she definitely recognized you…she may as well have set eyes on the sister she hadn't seen in over twenty years, you're that much alike…_Was Sophie bound forever to be caught entangled in the identities of others? Was there no part of Sophie that was uniquely her own? Sophie frowned into her porridge. Being under the Dark Mark had been terrifying, but some days she wanted nothing more than the vanquishing of her greatest and last enemy: the baggage she carried in her blood.

\


	23. Unforgiven

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**Unforgiven**

The first week back at Hogwarts was a very eventful one. At the feast the first night, Dumbledore informed the school that the Triwizard Tournament would be taking place that year at Hogwarts. Although the Tournament would only be open to those who were of age, there was still a great deal of excitement in the entire school, particularly as students from the wizarding schools Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were to arrive soon to have a chance at competition when the Goblet of Fire would select three names, one student from each school, to compete. Equally intriguing to Sophie's mind, however, had been the way Malfoy had been treated by their new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody.

Sophie had been hearing bits about Moody for three years; he was a retired Auror and had done work with training the new Auror recruits, namely Dora. In fact, he had taken an interest in Dora, treating her as his own protege, and had had a great hand in her training and was largely responsible for her high level of competence. Dora had spoken highly of him, but had explained to Sophie that he was nearing paranoia in terms of the safety precautions and measures that he took. "Constant vigilance!" Dora had mimicked absurdly for Sophie's amusement.

Sophie's first encounter with Moody came on the first day of school when Malfoy was mocking Ron with a Daily Prophet article featuring Ron's parents.

"And there's a picture, Weasley! A picture of your parents outside their house - if you can call it a house!" Malfoy spoke loudly so that no one in the Entrance Hall could miss his words. "Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?...You were staying with them this summer, weren't you, Potter? So tell me, is his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture?"

"You know your mother, Malfoy? That expression she's got, like she's got dung under her nose?" said Harry. Sophie raised one eyebrow slightly, watching Harry, amused. "Has she always looked like that, or was it just because you were with her?"

Sophie laughed. Malfoy's eyes snapped to Sophie and narrowed, but he returned his attention to Harry and, enraged, tried to curse Harry when his back was turned, but before anyone could have said "knife," Moody was on the scene and had Transfigured Malfoy into a ferret and bounced him around the Hall as punishment before McGonagall arrived on the scene and returned Malfoy to his human state.

"I want to fix that in my memory forever: Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret," stated Ron dreamily.

Sophie grinned. Though she thought it had been a cruel thing for a teacher to do, she would never forget Malfoy getting his come-uppance for picking on Harry and Ron that way, either.

It was several days later when they had their first Defense lesson with Moody. He explained that he was going to be teaching them about curses, specifically the three curses deemed Unforgivable under wizarding law. Ron raised his hand and mentioned the Imperius Curse, which he knew about from Mr. Weasley. Using the Imperius Curse on a spider, Moody made the spider perform Circus-like feats. Most of the class was laughing, though Sophie herself did not find it funny. Nor, apparently, did Moody.

"Total control. I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats…" Moody explained. "Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse. Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will."

Sophie recalled that her parents had said Lucius Malfoy had escaped Azkaban by using this very excuse.

"The Imperius Curse can be fought," Moody went on. "And I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!...Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?"

Sophie swallowed and stared at the wood of her desk. She knew which two were coming next, but didn't feel like volunteering the information.

Moody asked, "Yes?"

"There's one," said a voice timidly. Sophie's head snapped up. It was Neville speaking. Suddenly her throat seemed very dry. "-The Cruciatus Curse."

"Your name's Longbottom?" inquired Moody. Sophie glanced at Moody nervously, but he did not offer any further information.

"_Crucio!"_

Sophie watched as the spider writhed on the desk, apparently in agonizing pain. Then, unable to help herself, she took her eyes from the spider and laid them on Neville. He was clutching the desk he sat at, his eyes transfixed on the spider. He looked pale and shaken.

Sophie tore her eyes from him, finding the sight unbearable. She crossed her arms on her desk and lowered her head, unable to keep herself from shaking slightly.

Hermione's voice cut through her thoughts, "Stop it!" Apparently she too had seen, perhaps notified by Sophie's reaction, Neville's response to the curse.

Moody complied and then proceeded to show them the last curse, the Killing Curse, _Avada Kedavra... _

Moody was matter-of-fact. "Not nice. Not pleasant. And there's no counter-curse. There's no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he's sitting right in front of me."

Sophie did not look at Harry but lowered her eyes again. Harry and Neville, lives forever marred from these curses, and she felt marred herself, by those who had used them…

_Shut up,_ Sophie told herself firmly. _Shut up. It doesn't matter who your relatives are or what they chose to do; it's got nothing to do with you. It doesn't matter._

But it did matter. It mattered every time she looked in the mirror. It mattered every time she was out with Mum and a stranger did a double take seeing her mother. It mattered when Mrs. Tonks' face hardened with the knowledge that someone had, even if only for a moment, mistaken her for her sister...

Sophie felt dazed and sick for the rest of the class. When the bell rang and everyone was leaving, they were talking about what had happened to the spiders as though they had found it entertaining. Sophie didn't feel she could bear to be around this, so she muttered, "Bathroom," to Hermione, before slinging her bag over her shoulder and scooting off away from her classmates.

While the rest of the school was talking and laughing and heading for the Great Hall for dinner, Sophie headed back to Gryffindor Tower. She didn't feel much like eating and she wanted to be alone.

She found her dormitory mercifully deserted and sank onto her four-poster bed where she lay and stared at the ceiling. She didn't know how long she stayed like that, thinking about Neville, his parents, her mother, her aunt and uncle, Harry, his parents and Voldemort and the destruction he had released on everyone's lives. She thought especially about Neville now and how horrible it must be for him, and he wouldn't even tell anyone...

She sat up. Did Neville even know that she knew? She racked her brains. She couldn't think how he would...would he be angry if she brought it up, just between the two of them?

Sophie swung her legs off the side of her bed and left her dormitory and crossed the common room to the stairs to the boys' dormitory. She climbed the stairs and entered the room marked with a little sign reading "Fourth Years."

She knocked hesitantly on the door, then tentatively turned the doorknob and peered around the edge. Neville was sitting on one of the beds with a book, though he looked up expectantly as Sophie poked her head into the room. His eyes were bloodshot and his cheeks were puffy.

"Um, sorry," said Sophie awkwardly. "I, uh, didn't mean to bother you. I can go away."

Neville shook his head. "It's OK, Sophie." She opened the door wider and stepped into the room, approaching the edge of Neville's four-poster. She twisted her hands together, unsure of herself.

"What're you reading?" she asked, not knowing how to begin.

He glanced at the cover of his book. "Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean. Professor Moody's letting me borrow it. He...said he heard I'm good at Herbology."

Sophie smiled at him. "You are. You're the best in his class. Even Hermione thinks so."

Neville's face flushed with pride and Sophie gave him a little smile, then cast her eyes downward and sighed. She sank onto the corner of Neville's bed.

"Look, Neville," she began. "I'm...I just wanted to say...sorry...about Defence class today. I know you're - I mean, that must have been pretty horrible for you." What was she trying to say?

She said all of this speaking to her hands that she twisted uncomfortably in her lap, and when she finished speaking, glanced up towards Neville. He looked confused and apprehensive.

"Sorry, Neville," she amended, quickly. "Sorry. It's just I...know. About your parents, I mean."

"You do?" asked Neville, quietly, surprised.

"Yeah," said Sophie. "My uh," she looked away from Neville, unable to look at him and went back to observing her hands. "My mother is," she took a deep breath. "She's Bellatrix Lestrange's sister." She grimaced and then spoke very fast. "They never spoke to each other since the start of the war when my parents got married because my dad is Muggle-born and my mum's family disowned her after that, but -yeah," she said lamely. "So, uh, that's how I've known all this time. I've never told anyone, I swear," she finished in a rush.

"Oh," said Neville. "So-"

"Yeah," said Sophie.

"OK," said Neville.

"OK?" said Sophie. "I mean, you don't -care?" She almost said "hate me," but didn't want to be overly dramatic.

Neville shrugged. "It's not your fault, Sophie. I'm...glad that you never told anyone."

Sophie nodded. "Well, yeah," she said. "That's up to you to decide...uh, Neville, could you maybe not tell anyone about her being my aunt? I've never told anyone that either, not even Hermione, Harry or Ron."

Neville nodded. "Sure, Sophie."

Sophie gave him a small sad smile which he returned. "Thanks," she said softly.

Neville returned her slight smile which looked curious on his tear-stained face.

The door to the dormitory behind Sophie opened.

"Stupid Divination- Sophie, you're not supposed to be here!"

Sophie stood and turned and saw Harry and Ron had returned from dinner. "Sorry, Ron," she said. "Enjoy your book, Neville." And she left the dormitory.

Sophie pulled out her Astronomy homework and began to write an essay for Professor Sinistra. She was joined shortly by Harry and Ron making up predictions for Divination. As Sophie was just finishing off, Hermione entered the common room carrying a box.

"Hello, I've just finished!" she said to them.

Ron responded, "So have I!"

Hermione commented on the outrageousness of all of Ron's predictions before showing them the box she held consisted of dozens of badges bearing the letters "SPEW."

"Spew? What's this about?" asked Harry.

"Not spew. It's S-P-E-W," explained Hermione. "Stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare."

"Oh no," said Sophie, closing her eyes, realizing what Hermione was up to.

Ron raised an eyebrow. "Never heard of it."

"Well, of course you haven't. I've only just started it."

"Yeah? How many members have you got?"

"Well - if you three join - four," said Hermione.

"And you think we want to walk around wearing badges saying 'spew,' do you?"

"S-P-E-W!" exclaimed Hermione.

"Are we going to explain that to everyone who catches a glimpse of us wearing these?" asked Sophie. Hermione ignored her.

"I was going to put Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status - but it wouldn't fit. So that's the heading of our manifesto."

Sophie shook her head. "Hermione, why d'you have to make this so complicated? Just-"

Hermione cut across her. "I've been researching it thoroughly in the library. Elf enslavement goes back centuries. I can't believe no one's done anything about it before now."

"Hermione - open your ears. They. Like. It. They like being enslaved!" cried Ron.

"Our short-term aims are to secure house-elves fair wages and working conditions. Our long-term aims include changing the law about nonwand use, and trying to get an elf into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, because they're shockingly underrepresented."

"And how do we do all this?"

"We start by recruiting members. I thought two Sickles to join - that buys a badge - and the proceeds can fund our leaflet campaign. Sophie, you can be the vice-president. You're treasurer, Ron - I've got you a collecting tin upstairs - and Harry, you're secretary, so you might want to write down everything I'm saying now, as a record of our first meeting."

Sophie yawned and stretched in her chair. "I'll join, Hermione, on the condition that you change the name."

A crease appeared between Hermione's brows. "What's wrong with S.P.E.W?"

"What's wrong with it," said Sophie. "Is that no one will ever take this organization seriously if it's called Spew."

"S-P-" began Hermione, annoyed.

"Sure, but the casual observer won't know that," Sophie pointed out. "Just call it "Campaign for the Rights of Elves."

Hermione frowned. "But I've already made the badges," she said, gazing at them fondly.

"We can change them by magic," said Sophie. "OK?"

Hermione teetered for a moment before agreeing. She and Sophie changed all the badges that evening so that they read CRE instead of SPEW, and before they went to bed that night, Sophie gave Hermione two Sickles.

"Harry Potter," said Dumbledore to a stunned Hall.

Sophie blinked, confused. Surely, she had heard wrong, or had been imagining. There were only three champions, and Harry hadn't entered...But no, the rest of the Hall had suddenly turned its gaze towards Harry. He too seemed stunned. Four champions? Sophie doubted that had ever happened before in history. This was a terrible mistake.

Harry spoke quietly and hollowly, "I didn't put my name in. You know I didn't."

Sophie just looked at him, not knowing what to say.

Dumbledore was calling. "Harry Potter! Harry! Up here, if you please!"

Harry clumsily walked forward and through the door Viktor Krum, Fleur Delacour and Cedric Diggory had walked through just moments before.

Dumbledore turned back to face the schools. "I think this concludes the Goblet of Fire's selection of the Champions. I suggest you all turn in now and celebrate while the judges give the Champions some instructions." He raised his hands indicating the students' dismissal.

Dazedly, Sophie stood up along with the rest of the school.

"Can you believe it?" cried Fred. "He found a way to get his name in!"

Sophie looked incredulously at him, but this state of mind seemed to be spreading all along the Gryffindor table and people seemed to be impressed rather than stunned. The rest of the school, however, along with those from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons seemed to be angry.

Sophie walked in silence with Hermione and Ron back to Gryffindor Tower. Hermione looked worried; Ron's face was unreadable.

After a few minutes, while climbing the stairs, Ron finally burst out, "Can you believe him?"

Sophie looked, surprised, at Ron. "What do you mean?"

"He'll do anything, won't he," said Ron, heatedly. "Anything for a bit more fame."

Sophie and Hermione stopped dead and Ron stopped a few steps ahead of them, turning to face them. "What?" he said defensively.

"Ron," said Hermione. 'You heard Harry. "He says he didn't enter."

Ron snorted. "He said, yeah, sure. Tell me, how did his name come out of the Goblet, then?"

"We don't know, Ron," said Sophie, staring incredulously at her friend. "Neither does Harry. You saw him, he was just as shocked as the rest of us. He never wanted this"

"Good actor, isn't he?" said Ron savagely. "Got you two all convinced."

"Ron, please-" started Hermione, but Ron had already turned and continued hurrying up the stairs far ahead of them.

Hermione shook her head and sighed. She and Sophie continued up to Gryffindor Tower and then to their dormitory in a rather mournful silence. It seemed Harry had outdone Ron just one too many times.


	24. Friends and Dragons

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement. _

**Friends and Dragons**

"_Dragons?" _exclaimed Sophie incredulously.

Harry nodded. "Four of them; one for each champion. Hagrid showed them to me last night. Charlie was there and said he thinks we've got to get past them."

Hermione's brows were knit together anxiously as she, Sophie and Harry strolled around the lake's edge on a Sunday late in November.

"What did Sirius say when you talked to him, Harry?" she asked.

Harry had arranged to talk with Sirius in the fire of the Gryffindor common room the previous evening. "He said that a simple spell would be all I needed for the dragon, but then he had to go. He talked to me most of the time about Karkaroff, actually. Apparently he used to be a Death Eater, but they let him out of Azkaban in exchange for giving the Ministry the names of lots of other Death Eaters."

Sophie shook her head dazedly. "I guess Dumbledore must be keeping a close eye on him."

Hermione nodded distractedly. "Let's just try and keep you alive until Tuesday evening and then we can worry about Karkaroff."

"Right," said Harry. "So...do either of you know any simple spells that would get me past a dragon?"

"Ummm..." said Sophie.

Hermione's face was fixed in consternation as she walked. Sophie imagined her brain rewinding over every single spell she had ever heard a teacher mention or read about.

"You're _sure_ Sirius said 'a _simple_ spell'?" Sophie finally asked Harry after the three of them had circled the lake several times.

"Yes," said Harry. "He didn't say anything else after that because-" Harry scowled. "Ron interrupted us and he had to quickly leave."

Sophie and Hermione glanced at each other. Ron and Harry had not been feuding since Harry's name came out of the Goblet of Fire and avoided each other's company altogether. Ron still would not admit that Harry hadn't purposely entered himself into the Tournament.

"Well," sighed Hermione. "Let's try the library, shall we?"

The three of them left the lakeside and walked up to the library where the leafed through books on dragons with no success. Finally they were forced to depart for the common room as Viktor Krum entered the library, inevitably followed by his fan club of giggly girls.

Sophie spent most of the night searching through more dragon books, to no avail. As Monday morning dawned she reluctantly left the books beside her bed, a panicked feeling spreading through her gut. The first task was on Tuesday afternoon and there was no sign of this "simple spell" that Sirius had tantalizingly mentioned. Maybe, Sophie thought, as she chewed her porridge at breakfast with Hermione and Harry, she could bring some dragon books to Arithmancy that afternoon and search through them under her desk...

"I'll see you two in the greenhouses. Go on, I'll catch you up," said Harry as he, Sophie and Hermione were about to walk to Herbology.

"Harry," said Hermione. "You'll be late, the bell's about to ring -"

"I'll catch you up, okay?"

"C'mon," said Sophie to Hermione and the two of them went without Harry to Herbology.

"A simple spell...a simple spell..." muttered Sophie to herself as she and Hermione pruned a Flutterby Bush together. Harry still hadn't turned up. "D'you get the feeling this is one of those times where the answer is so obvious that we miss it?"

Hermione shrugged, her forehead wrinkled in consternation which Sophie knew was not due to the difficulty of the plant thy were working with.

"Sorry, Professor Sprout," said a voice.

"Hermione, Sophie - I need you to help me."

"What d'you think we've been trying to do, Harry?" Hermione responded.

"I need to learn how to do a Summoning Charm properly by tomorrow afternoon," Harry continued.

"Why?" asked Sophie.

And Harry told them.

"_Accio_!"

Harry's spell induced the book to lift and drift through the air towards him, but it fell out of the air while it was still several yards from him, hitting the floor of the empty classroom in which they were practicing with a clatter.

"Concentrate, Harry," said Hermione. "Concentrate…"

"What d'you think I'm trying to do? A great big dragon keeps popping up in my head for some reason," Harry said. "Okay, try again…"

Sophie placed the book on the other side of the classroom again, and Harry tried again to Summon it, with no more success.

"The bell's about to ring," said Hermione finally.

"I'll skive off Divination," said Harry.

"Well,_ I _will _not_ skip Arithmancy," said Hermione.

"I will," put in Sophie. "Let's keep trying, Harry."

Hermione pursed her lips, but made no further comment as she gathered her things and left for Arithmancy. Sophie and Harry spent the rest of the afternoon in the empty classroom. Sophie thought Harry was doing a bit better by the end; she herself already knew how to execute the spell and was trying to rack her brains on what had helped her and trying to implement whatever she could remember to help Harry.

Sophie and Harry raced off to have a quick dinner where the met Hermione again. Afterwards they returned to the classroom under Harry's Invisibility Cloak and continued practicing into the night. Harry was improving, and shortly before midnight, it seemed he had finally mastered the Summoning Charm.

"_Accio textbook!"_ he cried, and Sophie's copy of _Numerology and Grammatica_ immediately flew towards him and he caught it.

"Harry," cried Hermione. "I really think you've got it!"

"I think so too," said Sophie, exhausted but pleased.

They returned to Gryffindor Tower and Sophie collapsed easily into her bed, sleeping until Hermione shook her awake the next morning.

The whistle blew and Sophie jumped slightly in her seat as her stomach lurched. She gripped her seat's edge in attempt to control her spasms of anxiety and exchanged a terrified glance with Hermione.

It was not, however, Harry who emerged from the tent, but Cedric. Sophie relaxed very slightly as she clapped for Cedric.

The dragon -Bagman said it was a Swedish Short Snout -was loathe to leave her eggs unprotected so Cedric tried to entice it away by Transfiguring a nearby rock into a black labrador that barked and ran about. The dragon was intrigued by this noisy and apparently appetizing distraction and Cedric dashed forward to seize the golden egg the champions were supposed to be collecting. To Sophie's dismay, however, the dragon was quickly bored by the dog and returned her attention to Cedric, breathing a great jet of flame in his direction. Cedric yelled as the fire seared him and he was barely able to get his hands on the egg in time.

A group of wizards (including Charlie Weasley) were on the scene immediately, subduing the dragon and leading her away. Cedric was taken to a nearby first aid tent, presumably to have his burn healed, and by the time the enclosure had been cleared, Cedric returned, apparently in good health and spirits. The judges shot their marks into the air with their wands.

Bagman and Madame Maxime both gave Cedric sevens. Dumbledore and Mr. Crouch both emitted an eight and Karkaroff gave Cedric a six.

"Miss Delacour!" cried Bagman as the team of wizards brought out the next dragon. "If you please!"

Both Fleur and Krum managed to make it successfully past their respective dragons. Once Krum received his marks, Sophie could feel her heart clamouring around inside her chest again. She glamced at Hermione beside her who had taken to gripping her face in apprehension. Sophie felt she should say something to comfort and reassure her, but her voice didn't seem to be working properly. Instead she merely gripped Hermione's free hand, which Hermione returned in greater force. She then glanced beyond Hermione to where she could see Ron sitting with Fred and George. The crowd roared and Sophie's attention snapped back to the enclosure where Harry had just entered, the shadow of his great dragon looming over him. He seemed to freeze for a moment.

Sophie's left hand was clutched into a fist which she pressed to her lips. "Accio Firebolt, Harry," she muttered urgently, trying to beam the words into his mind. "Accio Firebolt, Accio Firebolt, Accio Firebolt-"

"_Accio Firebolt!_" Harry cried.

The next few moments were agonizing. Had it worked? Was it coming? Had they helped him enough? Where was it? It wasn't coming; it hadn't worked. That monstrous dragon was going to burn Harry into oblivion with one lazy breath-

The Firebolt arrived. Sophie and Hermione made identical noises that seemed half screams of delight, half sighs of relief as Harry mounted his broomstick and flew upwards, upwards, enticing the dragon to follow him and leave her eggs.

Despite the initial panic being over, it was still a rather terrifying sight: Harry diving and swerving on his broomstick to escape's the dragon's deadly flames. At one point he stayed in a moment too long and was singed as the crowd moaned and Hermione gave a muffled scream. Sophie glance dover at Ron once more and saw his eyes fixed on Harry; his face was filled with fear and apprehension for his friend as well.

Harry seized the golden egg in the end. Sophie and Hermione leapt to their feet, screaming in delight along with the roar of the cheering crowd as the dragon was quickly subdued and Harry herded away to the medical tent.

"Let's go!" squealed Hermione, though Sophie was ahead of her and was already pushing through the crowd of people to reach the medical tent.

Sophie managed to make her way out of the thick of the crowd and ran for the tent, Hermione and -Sophie was pleased to see- Ron running behind her.

They burst through the tent flap and Sophie almost crashed right into Harry.

"Harry!" she cried, throwing her arms around him. "Oh, sorry," she said, remembering his injury.

"That's OK," he said, grinning back at her.

Hermione exclaimed, "Harry, you were brilliant! You were amazing! You really were!"

"Harry, whoever put your name in that goblet" began Ron. "I – I reckon they're trying to do you in!"

"Caught on, have you? Took you long enough," responded Harry. But then he said, "It's okay. Forget it."

"No. I shouldn't've -"

"_Forget _it."

Hermione began crying. Harry gazed at her, perplexed.

"There's nothing to cry about!" he exclaimed.

"You two are so stupid!" Hermione seized both Harry and Ron in an embrace, then ran off.

Sophie grinned after her while the two boys looked utterly flummoxed. "She's right, you know." She clapped Ron's arm in a friendly way. "Good to have you back. Try not to wait till Harry almost gets killed by a dragon, next time, won't you?" And Sophie set off to find Hermione.


	25. Enjoyed and Unseen

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement._

The bell rang on Thursday morning in Transfiguration class. Sophie and Hermione put their things back in their bags and swung them over their shoulders. The students around them were murmuring excitedly, having just heard Professor McGonagall announce the upcoming Yule Ball.

"A ball, huh?" said Sophie to Hermione as they strolled down the corridor. "Should be fun."

"I suppose," returned Hermione. "I guess that's why our lists this year said we needed dress robes." Suddenly, a sixth-year, dark-haired Slytherin boy whose name Sophie did not know hurried up to them.

"Hey," he said. "It's Sophronia, right?"

"Er, yeah," said Sophie, rather taken aback. "But most people just say Sophie. This is Hermione Granger."

"Hello," said the boy, nodding his head to Hermione. "I'm Sigmund. Sigmund Greengrass. You might know one of my sisters, Daphne; she's in your year. I was just wondering if I could have a word with you, Sophie?"

Sophie was surprised, but agreed, and Hermione went on ahead without her.

"So," said Sigmund. "I was wondering if- I mean, have you heard there's going to be a ball on Christmas?"

Sophie nodded. "McGonagall just told us."

"Well," continued Sigmund. "I was wondering if, maybe, you'd like to go with me."

Sophie blinked. "Go...to the Yule Ball, with you?"

"Yeah," said Sigmund. "If you hadn't, you know, made other plans."

"Oh, sure!" said Sophie. "That'd be- yeah, no, I haven't got any other plans."

"Great!" said Sigmund, smiling. "So -so I guess I'll see you then."

"All right," said Sophie, smiling back. The bell rang. "Um, I've got to get to Herbology."

"Sure," said Sigmund. "See you, Sophie."

The next day after dinner Sophie was sitting with Hermione reading up on Arithmancy theory for their homework. Sophie was busily ordering a chart based on a table she was examining in Numerology and Grammatica when a shadow suddenly fell over her parchment. She looked up, and to her complete surprise, saw Viktor Krum standing by their table.

"Hello," he said.

"Hi," said Sophie.

"Hello," echoed Hermione. Krum shuffled his feet awkwardly.

"Could I haff a vord?" he asked Hermione.

Hermione looked rather startled, but still composed. "Of course." Krum's eyes shifted over Sophie uneasily.

"Um, I think I've done enough studying for now," said Sophie, closing her textbook, gathering up her parchment and sidling off her chair and out of the library, giving Hermione a brief backward glance and seeing that Krum had taken her vacated seat, his head bent forwards, saying something to Hermione. As she turned back around to continue leaving the library, she almost collided headlong with a boy who was just entering. "Oh, sorry!" cried Sophie. She recognized the boy as being a seventh-year Ravenclaw. He smiled at her. "Don't worry," he said. "Would you like to go to the ball with me?"

Sophie blinked. "Oh, um, sorry, I can't, I'm already going with someone else. Thanks, though." And she dashed away to Gryffindor Tower.

Sophie lay sprawled forward on her four-poster reading Numerology and Grammatica, though her mind continually wandered to what Viktor Krum could be saying to Hermione. Could he be asking her to go-

The dormitory door opened and Hermione entered. Sophie raised an eyebrow up at her. "Well?"

Hermione was composed, but there was a noticeably pink flush tinting her cheeks. "He...he asked me to got to the ball with him!"

Sophie screamed.

"Shhhh!" exclaimed Hermione. Sophie clapped a hand over her mouth. "Sorry," she mumbled through her hand. Removing it, she spoke more quietly, "And what did you say?"

"Yes, of course!" Hermione almost shouted, evidently forgetting her own admonition.

Sophie gave an excited squeal and leaped off the bed to hug her friend.

"But Sophie," Hermione's expression became very serious. ""Please don't tell anyone, OK? Everyone will make fun of me. Don't even tell Harry or Ron."

"I swear," said Sophie. "Well, come on, then!" They both sat down on the bed. "Details!"

Hermione couldn't keep herself from grinning as she sat down on Sophie's bed with her. "He...he said the reason he kept coming to the library was because he wanted to talk to me, but couldn't work up the nerve-" Hermione was extremely red in the face now. "And he...just said that he fancied me, and would I like to go to the ball with him."

"And you said yes!"

"Yes," said Hermione. The dormitory door opened and she whirled around. It was Ginny.

"Oh, hi," said Ginny, standing in the doorway. "I was just coming up the stairs when I heard someone scream."

"Oh, that was me," said Sophie. "I'm fine though, just excited about the ball."

"Who're you going with?"

"Sigmund Greengrass," Sophie replied. "He's a Slytherin in sixth year."

"What about you, Hermione?" asked Ginny, coming to sit on Sophie's bed as well.

Hermione glanced at Sophie. "I don't mind if Ginny knows," she said. Turning to Ginny she stipulated, "But you can't tell anyone, OK? Don't tell Ron or anyone else." Ginny nodded. "I'm going with Viktor Krum."

Ginny's eyes were as round as saucers. "He asked you?" Hermione nodded and related the story again for Ginny. After she had finished, Sophie addressed Ginny:

"So are you coming to the ball?"

Ginny shook her head. "Can't; I'm in third year, remember?"

"I know," said Sophie. 'I just thought someone older might have asked you."

Ginny rose to leave. "Well, no one has. You guys'll have fun, though." She poked Hermione playfully. "Especially you."

"Hi Sophie," said Neville, jogging a bit to catch up as Sophie walked down the stone corridor to Potions. She slowed to enable him to catch up.

"How're you?" Sophie asked.

"All right," he replied. "I was really confused about the Potions essay yesterday; I don't understand antidotes at all, but I talked with Hermione and she explained them to me."

Sophie nodded. "Hermione understand almost everything."

"Yeah…Sophie, I was –just wondering- if you'd like to come to the Yule Ball with me?"

"Oh!" said Sophie, taken aback. "Oh, Neville, I'm so sorry, but I've already said I'd go with someone else."

"Oh," said Neville as they rounded another corner on their way to the dungeons. "That's OK, Sophie."

There was an awkward pause, then Sophie said, "Neville, if you wanted (I mean, it's just an idea, you don't have to) you could ask Ginny Weasley. She's only in third year, you know, so she won't be able to go at all if no one asks her and if you're looking for someone –well, it's only an idea. No pressure."

Neville nodded. "OK. Thanks, Sophie." He gave her a friendly smile which she returned.

Sophie was asked to the ball by no fewer than four more boys over the next week. She didn't know any of them except by sight. One was a Gryffindor boy from seventh year, one was from Beauxbatons and two were Hufflepuffs that she recognized as being friends of Cedric Diggory. Sophie was rather baffled at all this attention, although neither Hermione or Ginny seemed to think it was strange for Sophie to be garnering this much male attention. Neville had taken Sophie's suggestion and asked Ginny to the ball, and though Ginny was pleased to be going, she seemed to mind that only Neville had asked her (Harry hadn't), though she behaved graciously enough and didn't voice this aloud. Being Neville's date was, however, slightly problematic as Ginny did not own any dress robes, but she accepted Sophie's offer of borrowing a spare set the latter owned (Sophie wrote home for them to be sent to her; she felt somewhat responsible for Ginny's situation). While Hermione was very pleased to be going to the ball with Viktor Krum and kept her head about it better than many girls in her situation would have done, Sophie sometimes noticed her staring in a dissatisfied way at the back of Ron's head during classes, as though he had done something to mortally offend her. Ron seemed to notice nothing, and Hermione never brought up the subject.

Neither Harry nor Ron were having any success at finding partners for the ball. One evening, a week before Christmas, Sophie and Hermione had dinner in the Great Hall without seeing Harry, Ron or Ginny at their table at all. On returning to the common room, however, it transpired that the three of them were holed up together, Harry and Ron both laughing hysterically.

"Why weren't you two at dinner?" Hermione asked the boys.

"Because- oh shut up you two- they've both just been turned down by girls they asked to the ball," offered Ginny.

Laughter subsiding immediately, Ron scowled. "Thanks a lot, Ginny."

"All the good-looking ones taken, Ron? Well, I'm sure you'll find _someone somewhere_ who'll have you," Sophie gazed curiously at her friend. Surely it wasn't her imagination; Hermione was being a bit nasty towards Ron. She glanced at Ginny who merely raised an eyebrow.

"Hermione..." said Ron. "Neville's right - you are a girl…"

Hermione scowled. "Oh, well spotted."

"Well - you and Sophie can come with us!" said Ron. Sophie arched her eyebrows now. Had this thought seriously only occurred to Ron at this moment?

"No, we can't," Hermione said peevishly.

"Oh come on. We need partners, we're going to look really stupid if we haven't got any, everyone else has…"

"We can't come with you because we're already going with other people," explained Hermione.

Ron dismissed this. "No, you're not! You just said that to get rid of Neville!"

"That is not true!" broke in Sophie angrily. "I _would_ have gone with Neville, there's nothing wrong with him; I'd just already agreed to go with Sigmund Greengrass!"

"Who?" asked Ron.  
"He's in sixth year, in Slytherin."

Ron let out a skeptical snort. Sophie raised an eyebrow and he quickly looked away and continued, "Fine, but Hermione, then, you can come-"

"No, I can't!" Hermione reiterated. "Just because it's taken you three years to notice, Ron, doesn't mean no one else has spotted I'm a girl!"

"OK, OK, we know you're a girl. That do? Will you come now?"

"I've already told you! I'm going with someone else!" Hermione marched away angrily up the stairs to their dormitory.

Sophie's eyes followed her concernedly and stood up to follow her, but pausing, turned and said, "Harry, last I heard Parvati Patil didn't have anyone to go with." Without waiting for a response she turned and hurried after Hermione.

Sophie found Hermione lying on her bed, her face turned away. "Are you OK, Hermione?"

"Of course," came the would-be-normal voice.

Sophie stood at the foot of Hermione's bed and spoke to the back of her bushy brown head. "Hermione...d'you...wish that Ron had asked you to the ball?" She bit her lip as she waited for a response. If she was wrong...

She wasn't. She saw it on Hermione's face as the latter sat up on the bed, her eyes averted from Sophie, though she gave a half-hearted shrug.

"If Ron had asked me, I probably would have said yes," was all she said as she reached into her bag and pulled out _Numerology and Grammatica _and hid behind its pages.

Sophie nodded. "OK." And she went over to her own bed, wondering how she could have missed this development in Hermione and if this Yule Ball was going to be more trouble than it was worth.

Harry had evidently pulled himself together and asked Parvati to the ball; she had agreed to go with him and was ecstatic to be the date of one of the champions. Apparently her sister Padma was going to be going with Ron, although Sophie doubted very much that Ron had asked her himself. Another bit of hodge-podge matchmaking had been done by Lavender and Seamus (who were going together) in partnering up Dean and Sally-Anne, neither of whom seemed too psyched about the other, though both seemed to prefer this arrangement to going alone.

Hermione had expressed privately to Sophie that she was trying to find a spell or potion that would lessen her hair's volume for the ball, and Sophie had told her about Sleekeazy's Hair Potion and promised to help her with her hair (and other assorted preparations) for the ball. So on Christmas Day at five o'clock she and Hermione excused themselves from a snowball fight with Harry and the Weasleys (Hermione had merely watched while Sophie participated and had gotten snow smeared across her face) to go and beautify themselves for the ball (at least, those were Sophie's words in response to Ron's wonderment that they required three hours to get ready).

Sophie dried herself off completely while Hermione toyed with her hair, then Sophie divided her friend's hair into sections and applied gobs of the potion to them.

"If this works-" began Hermione, as Sophie's finger combed the potion through Hermione's thick waves of hair.

"It'll work."

"It's still way too much work to do every single day," said Hermione.

"I suppose," Sophie responded. "And it would be really expensive; I'm using like half the bottle here."

When Sophie had finished she held up a mirror for Hermione to see her reflection in.

"_Wow_," said Sophie, gazing at Hermione's hair, which she had never seen so tamed. "I'm good."

Hermione punched her playfully. "It is really good. You've made me look almost beautiful."

"Not 'almost,' " corrected Sophie. "And you've always been beautiful. I can't take credit for a divine work."

Hermione gave her a small smile. "Thank you, Sophie."

"Anytime," Sophie responded airily, pulling her own dress robes out of her trunk.

Eventually Parvati, Lavender and Sally-Anne joined them to get dressed as well. Sally-Anne's robes were light grey, while Parvati's were a vibrant pink and Lavender's were a pale peach. Hermione's were made of a periwinkle-coloured tulle-like material. Parvati and Lavender both seemed stunned when they saw her.

Sophie's robes were crimson and made from silk with a cowl neckline, Renaissance sleeves and a fitted waist with Princess seams. She was wearing a golden choker with matching earrings and nosestud.

All five girls tentatively left their dormitory. The common room was milling about with people (mostly younger girls who had come to see the older students before going to the ball. Sophie spotted Ginny and beckoned to her. Ginny joined her and Hermione walking down to the Entrance Hall. Sophie's cream-coloured robes complimented Ginny very well, though the hem and sleeves had had to be taken up several inches.

Once in the Entrance Hall, Sally-Anne, Parvati and Lavender broke off to find their respective partners. Neville appeared almost immediately afterwards for Ginny. Sophie thought he looked very well I his dark blue dress robes and smiled brightly at him.

"Hi Neville!"

Neville returned her smile. "Hi Sophie."

"You look lovely, Hermy-own," said a voice behind Sophie. She turned and saw Viktor Krum there. Hermione's cheeks had suddenly become bright pink.

"Thank you, Viktor," she said as he extended his arm to her. "I'll see you guys later," Hermione spoke over her shoulder as Viktor led her away.

"Sophie," said Sigmund, emerging from the crowd in robes of royal blue. "You look great."

"So do you," she replied.

"Some friends and I have seats, if you want to come," he said. Sophie bade Ginny and Neville goodbye and went with Sigmund. He introduced her to his friends and Sophie was very happy to discover that one of his friends, Gabriel Richards, had brought Lily as his partner. Sophie sat down with Sigmund on one side and Lily on the other.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" asked Lily, gesturing around at the décor. "I had such a time getting out here though; Tracey and Millicent have both gone home for the holidays so I was trapped by myself with Pansy and Daphne getting ready for the ball." She rolled her eyes. "Nightmares, both of them."

Sigmund grinned. "I can imagine."

"Who're they here with?" asked Sophie.

"Pansy was asked by Draco," Lily mimed an overdramatic faint. "And Daphne came with Blaise Zabini."

Sophie, Sigmund, Lily and Gabriel were all engaged in conversation when the four champions entered with their partners. Parvati seemed very happy to be Harry's partner, but she mostly kept here eyes on Hermione, who, though still slightly pink, was standing confidently and seemed to be relaxed. She caught her eye and they both smiled.

The dinner was exquisite that evening. One simply had to speak to one's plate what one would like to eat, and it appeared. After the meal had finished, the Weird Sisters came out, to much applause (which Sophie joined in to enthusiastically). They struck up one of their songs, and the four champions and their partners took the floor and began the dancing –or tried to, in Harry's case. Sophie could see that he was having a bit of trouble, though Parvati's steps seemed to be his saving grace. Viktor and Hermione were doing very well together, and soon other couples joined in the dancing, including Sophie and Sigmund. Sophie had never danced at a formal event like this before, but found it fairly simple and enjoyable. When The Weird Sisters had finished the first song they began a much faster, more exuberant number, which Sophie and Sigmund danced to as well. Sophie found she preferred this latter type of dancing as it seemed less stringent and pressured and more fun.

After several more songs she and Sigmund retired to the edges of the floor for a break, and they met up with Ginny and Neville. Sophie had observed that Neville had been a very awkward dance partner for Ginny as he had an irritating habit of stepping on her toes, but she did not seem too out of sorts, in fact she seemed to be enjoying herself fairly well.

"Oh sorry," said a dark-haired figure who accidentally brushed into Ginny as he walked by. Sophie realized it was Michael Corner, a Ravenclaw in her year. "Would you like to dance?"

Ginny nodded at Neville. "I'm here with someone else."

Neville flushed. "I don't mind, Ginny."

Michael raised his eyebrows questioningly and put out his hand for her. "I'm Michael Corner."

Ginny smiled and took it. "Ginny Weasley," she said, and they went off to the dance floor together.

Sophie and Sigmund danced a good deal more together, and Sophie was surprised when the clock struck twelve; the ball had seemed to go by so quickly. Sigmund and she walked back to the foot of the stairs where Sophie had to go up to get to Gryffindor Tower.

"I had loads of fun," she told him.

He grinned back. "Me too; it was great. I guess I'll see you around, then?"

"Sure," she replied, and Sigmund leaned forwards and gave her a kiss on the cheek before turning and heading back for the Slytherin common room.

Sophie felt as light as a feather and the spot on her cheek that Sigmund's lips had brushed seemed to be exuding a special kind of magic –and then she arrived back in the common room. Harry, Hermione and Ron were all there and the latter two were having a shouting match, apparently about the fact that Hermione had gone to the ball with Viktor Krum.

"Well, if you don't like it, you know what the solution is, don't you?" exclaimed Hermione.

Ron yelled back, 'Oh, yeah? What's that?"

Hermione looked very miffed indeed as she shouted, "Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!" She stomped away up to the dormitory.

Sophie shook her head sadly and turned to Harry, who had been mutely watching. "I never realized until this whole ball thing came up, about the two of them, did you? Well, 'night, Harry."

And she followed Hermione up to the girls' dormitory.


	26. Trials

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement._

"I don't care what Moody says. Dumbledore's not stupid," pronounced Hermione. She had pushed aside the information that Harry had related about Moody and Mr. Crouch having searched Snape's office though the latter was supposed to be so ill he couldn't attend work. "He was right to trust Hagrid and Professor Lupin, even though loads of people wouldn't have given them jobs, so why shouldn't he be right about Snape, even if Snape is a bit -"

Ron broke in. "-Evil. Come on, Hermione, why are all these Dark wizard catchers searching his office, then?"

Ron and Hermione bickered back and forth a bit and Sophie reverted, as she had learned to do, to tune them out and focused her thoughts instead on how Harry could make it through the next task.

Harry had learned, via a helpful tip from Cedric, that something of great importance to him would be stolen during the next task and he would have one hour to search for it -underwater in the school lake. Thus discovering magical means of respiration seemed to be increasingly becoming the focus of her life.

"When Muggles spend long times underwater," Harry told them. "They use aqua-lungs. They're big containers filled with air and they strap them to their backs and they have tubes that they attach from the lungs to masks on their faces and then they can breathe the air on their backs."

Sophie laughed at this. The visual Harry had painted in her mind with this looked very funny to her. "Muggles must have very little vanity," she said. 'To wear something like that!"

Harry gave her a very small, reluctant smile, while Ron put down the library book he had been leafing through, a look of pleasant relief sweeping over his face. "Well, there you go, Harry; you can use those! Just use a Summoning Charm again and Summon some from the nearest Muggle village! Easy."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Even if Harry somehow learned how to use the aqua-lung before the hour was up, a Muggle could easily see the thing flying through the air and then Harry'd have broken the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy and then he'd be disqualified _and_ in trouble with the Ministry. Of course, the ideal solution would be for you to Transfigure yourself into a submarine or something. If only we'd done human Transfiguration already! But I don't think we start that until sixth year, and it can go badly wrong if you don't know what you're doing…"

"Yeah, I don't fancy walking around with a periscope sticking out of my head," said Harry. "I s'pose I could always attack someone in front of Moody; he might do it for me…"

Hermione maintained that it was a Charm that Harry needed this time and that they just had to find the right one. So Sophie found herself spending days on end, nearly always in the library when not sleeping, briefly eating, or in class (and she skipped a few of those to go to the library as well). As the second task loomed closer and closer Sophie felt increasingly desperate on Harry's behalf. She inwardly berated herself for allowing any time to slip by in which she was not actively trying to find a way for Harry to survive underwater. Somehow they ended up, the evening before the second task, still in the library, poring over books with no leads. Fred and George approached them there, saying that they were to take Hermione and Ron to see Professor McGonagall.

"Why?" inquired Hermione.

Fred shrugged. "Dunno… she was looking a bit grim, though."

Hermione assured Sophie and Harry that they would meet them back in the common room once Professor McGonagall had finished with them and she and Ron left with the twins.

Sophie sighed. "I guess we should gather up as many of these as we think might be useful," she suggested to Harry, indicating the table piled with books in front of them. Harry nodded in assent and she could see the muted, blind panic in his eyes.

They returned to the common room with as many books as they could carry. Sophie settled herself in an armchair under a lamp. Harry did the same and the piled the books between them, each silently poring over one book at a time. They were alone in the common room and Sophie, bizarrely, found the silence to be strangely loud and overwhelming and sometimes found she had to force herself to focus on the task at hand. She even did her best to banish all thoughts of Hermione and Ron's continual absence, telling herself a means for Harry's survival was the only thing that mattered at the moment...

Hours passed. Harry heaved a great sigh and Sophie lifted her eyes from the yellowing page of the book she was fruitlessly examining and saw that Harry had abandoned his book and was sitting hunched over, his glasses pushed up onto his forehead while he covered his eyes with his hands. Sophie hated this, but hardly knew what to say. To say "I'm sorry," seemed to be admitting failure, so instead she said, tentatively, "If only Hermione hadn't handed in her Time Turner. It might've come in handy now."

Harry uncovered his face and nodded, the ghost of a small smile on his face for one brief moment. Then he stood up. "I think we should go back to the library," he said to Sophie. "I'll go get the Invisibility Cloak."

Sophie nodded mutely as Harry turned and dashed up to his dormitory. He returned and threw the Cloak over both of them and they made their way to the library as silently as they could. They pulled more books from the shelves and sat down, each poring over them under the Cloak. They read in silence, developing a sort of rhythm even in their desperation as they methodically scanned each book, then turned them aside when the book offered nothing in the way of help...

Sophie's eyelids drooped several times, though she blinked back determinedly. Yet even as she did so, it seemed harder and harder to keep turning pages. She even slapped herself in the face a couple times in an attempt to stay awake. Her thoughts wandered to her four-poster bed in her dormitory, then shook her head, reminding herself to focus. Absently she glanced over at Harry and saw that his head had drooped forwards onto his chest, his hand frozen in the act of turning over another page. _I should wake him up_, Sophie thought. _We can't fall asleep, we've got to find the answer. He's got to stay awake. I've got to stay..._

Sophie's eyes opened as Harry's elbow slid off the table and jabbed her in the arm. "Hmm," Sophie murmured, raising her head, bleary-eyed. She blinked several times, then realized what had happened. Harry was still dozing beside her. She raised her right arm to check her watch. It was 9:20. She gasped and cried, "Oh my God, we fell asleep!" Sophie tried to leap out of her seat at the table, but her feet got tangled in the Invisibility Cloak which had fallen off them in their sleep and she stumbled and tripped. Then she noticed a familiar figure poking Harry in the side. It was Dobby the house-elf who they had met several months previously working in the Hogwarts' kitchens.

"Dobby," she said in surprise. "What're you doing here?"

Dobby nodded at her. "Dobby came to help Harry Potter up, miss!" And he poked Harry with renewed force, though Harry murmured complaints in his sleep. "Dobby must poke Harry Potter, sir, he must wake up!" Finally Harry raised his head and sat up.

"Harry Potter needs to hurry! The second task starts in ten minutes," cried Dobby. "And Harry Potter -"

"Ten minutes? Ten -_ ten minutes_?"

"I'm _so_ sorry, Harry," Sophie moaned miserably.

"Hurry, Harry Potter! You is supposed to be down by the lake with the other champions, sir!" Dobby spoke over Harry's protests. Harry Potter will do the task! Dobby knew Harry had not found the right book, so Dobby did it for him!...Harry Potter has to go into the lake and find his Wheezy-"

"Find your Wheezy?" Sophie repeated in confusion. Then the truth slowly dawned on her.

"Find my what?" Harry asked, perplexed.

"- and take his Wheezy back from the merpeople!" Dobby continued.

"What's a Wheez-"

"Harry!" Sophie gasped. "It's Ron! They've got _Ron!_"

Dobby produced a small bunch of articles that resembled bogey-coloured strings. "You has to eat this, sir! Right before you go into the lake, sir - gillyweed!...It will make Harry Potter breathe underwater, sir!...Dobby heard Professor McGonagall and Professor Moody in the staffroom, talking about the next task… Dobby cannot let Harry Potter lose his Wheezy!"

Harry dashed out of the library, Sophie in hot pursuit behind him as Dobby sprinted away, wishing Harry luck. Sophie and Harry raced through the corridors, down stairs (Sophie jumped at least half a dozen and just barely kept her balance) and nearly knocked several people over, not pausing to apologize as they sprinted for the lake. Once it was in view, Sophie could see that stands had been arranged along the lake's edge while the judges and champions were standing on the opposite side of the lake.

"See you Harry!" she called as they separated. "You'll do great!"

Sophie slowed to a walk and watched as Harry careened into place. She twisted her hands and observed him anxiously as he was lined up next to the other champions.

"Sophie!"

Sophie turned and saw Sigmund coming towards her. "Hi," she said to him.

"Hi," he responded. "I was wondering if you'd like to sit with me to watch the task?"

Sophie found she could smile again. "Sure."

Sigmund led her back to a place in the stands where he was sitting with Gabriel and Lily. Ludo Bagman's voice, magically projected from the other side of the lake, began to speak.

"Well," he said. "All our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One… two… three!"

Sigmund fumbled in his bag and pulled out a pair of Omnioculars. "Here," he said, handing it to Sophie.

"Oh, thank you," she said, pressing the Omnioculars to her eyes and focusing them on Harry. He seemed to have just put the gillyweed into his mouth and was now wading out into the water. The other three champions had their wands out and appeared to be performing charms on themselves, but Sophie hardly noticed them, except when Sigmund cried out, "Look at Krum!" and she briefly saw that he had, apparently, attempted to Transfigure himself into a shark, but this had only worked on his top half; his legs were still very much human. Apparently this satisfied him, though, and he dove towards the water. Sophie switched the focus back to Harry. He brought his hands up to his throat. Sophie zoomed in as far as she could and saw -to her immense relief- that he seemed to have developed gills and his hands were webbed. He disappeared under the water. Fleur and Cedric had also dove in.

"And now I s'pose we just wait here for an hour," said Gabriel, leaning back in his seat. "Not like last time."

Lily smiled. "The second task is traditionally like this in the Triwizard Tournament; secluded from the spectators' view as the champions face dangers unknown..."

Sophie flinched involuntarily. Lily glanced towards her. "Sorry," she quickly amended. "I forgot -it must be hard for you worrying about Harry Potter."

Sophie gave a brief nod. How she wished she could be like Lily, Sigmund and Gabriel, having no immensely personal tie to the Tournament, to merely be sitting here with Hermione, Harry and Ron, talking and fantasizing casually about what sort of fantastic dangers the champions might be facing below the water's dark surface...

"He'll be fine," said Sigmund.

Sophie nodded. "I hope so."

" 'Course he will," said Gabriel. "We saw him get past that dragon all right."

"More than 'all right,' " put in Sigmund. "It was incredible! He took on that dragon just like he was playing Quidditch!"

Ludo Bagman's voice echoed across the lake again. "All the champions are now underwater, searching for something that was stolen from them. Some_one_, to be precise. There are four hostages being held in the lake, guarded by merpeople, one for each champion to rescue. These hostages were specifically chosen for being the person the judges deemed each respective champion would miss the most. Viktor Krum is to rescue Miss Hermione Granger of Hogwarts School, Harry Potter's hostage is Ronald Weasley of Hogwarts, Cedric Diggory must liberate Miss Cho Chang, also of Hogwarts, and Fleur Delacour is to return with her sister, Miss Gabrielle Delacour! The champions have forty-five minutes remaining."

After Sophie had reeled from the initial shock of this news, she joined Lily's, Sigmund's and Gabriel's conversation which had turned to a discussion of how they believed each respective champion would fare in this task and what tactics each would likely use.

At ten o'clock there appeared to be something happening on the other side of the lake. The crowd craned their necks to see what was going on and Sophie held the Ominiculars to her eyes. She could make out the figure of Fleur, her robes and long silvery hair plastered to her, being helped out of the lake.

"She doesn't have her sister with her," observed Lily.

"Is she forfeiting?" wondered Gabriel. "Things aren't looking up for Beauxbatons, are they?"

"Which is good news for Hogwarts," pronounced Lily.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Bagman's voice boomed out across the lake again. "The Beauxbatons champion, Miss Fleur Delacour has retired from this task owing to an unfortunate incident with some Grindylows. The rest of this task shall proceed as planned as we await the return of the other three champions."

As the hour drew to a close Sophie checked her watch continuously. Ten minutes. Five. Now only two…

The whistle sounded. Nothing happened. The crowd gazed around in confusion. "Where are they?" someone called out.

"You don't think they've all been attacked?" said Sophie.

Sigmund shook his head. "I doubt it; an hour probably just wasn't enough time."

Gabriel nodded in agreement. "Clearly the judges underestimated the length of time required."

"Look!" cried Lily as the water's surface rippled with a disturbance and two heads appeared. Sophie slammed the Ominculars against her eyes.

"Is it-" she began, but Lily cut across her.

"It is! It's Cedric! Cedric and Cho!" Lily's cry echoed through the stands and Hogwarts students roared with applause and cheering as Cedric and Cho swam to the lake's edge and were pulled out and wrapped in blankets.

"Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts School has returned with his hostage," announced Bagman to the crowd. "He is the first to return having successfully completed this task."

Glad though she was that Hogwarts had come first and that Cedric and Cho seemed to be fine, Sophie's initial pleasure quickly died as she returned to staring into the depths of the lake. Hermione, Harry and Ron were still under there…

A huge whoop from a section of the stands went up as two more head appeared above water. Sophie's attention snapped to them, realizing that the Durmstrang students were cheering as Krum returned.

"It's Hermione!" cried Sophie, standing up to see properly. "Krum brought her back and she looks fine!"

A wave of relief was sweeping over Sophie, though part of her mind was still screaming to know whether Harry and Ron were all right. Hermione and Krum were settled on the bank near Fleur, Cedric and Cho, but the water remained still; no more heads were appearing. Ten minutes passed, then twenty. Sophie tapped her foot impatiently and twisted her hands together in her lap. Sigmund put his hand over one of hers and squeezed it. She squeezed his back appreciatively and they kept holding hands.

Suddenly, as Sophie was debating in her mind whether or not she ought to go and see Hermione on the other side of the lake, a small black bob appeared in the middle of the lake, followed quickly by a rusty-coloured bob and a silvery one on either side.

"It's Harry!" Sophie shrieked. They were all on their feet now, in fact the whole crowd was, everyone shouting and cheering applause after all the pent-up anticipation. Hundreds of merpeople were appearing beside Harry, Ron and Gabrielle as they were pulled ashore.

"See?" Sigmund called to Sophie over the roaring crowd. 'I told you he'd be all right!"

Sophie's face was beaming with a grin as she glanced around at Sigmund and threw her arms around his shoulders in a hug, which he returned.

Sophie and Sigmund were walking around the lake after the stands and grounds had cleared after the task and the schools were at lunch. They talked and laughed; Sophie had been so preoccupied in recent days that she hadn't had much time to spare to hang out with Sigmund, but now it was refreshing to be able to relax in his company, to appreciate his easygoing, thoughtful manner and to smile easily back into his sea-blue eyes that invited confidence.

"Want to see if there's anything left from lunch?" Sigmund asked her after they had made their way around the lake several times.

"Sure," said Sophie. "And if there isn't we can always pop by the kitchens; I'm sure the house-elves would be more than willing to feed us."

"OK, but..." Sigmund seemed hesitant. "Aren't you for elf rights? I know you wear that badge sometimes for that organization that Hermione started..." Sigmund's voice trailed off as Sophie turned to face him. They had been walking close together, their hands clasped in each other's and when Sophie turned her shoulder brushed his so that their faces were inches apart. They stopped walking and paused for a moment, then Sigmund leaned forwards and Sophie responded, putting her lips over his.

They broke apart after a few moments and Sophie smiled. "I won't tell Hermione if you won't."

Sigmund returned her smile. "Sounds good to me."

And together they walked back up to the castle.

Professor Vector had made something of a habit of sending one of her students up to the Headmaster's office with scrolls of parchment every now and again. One afternoon late in May Sophie had finished her classwork early and Professor Vector assigned her with this very task, handing her a mountain of parchment and whispering the password to Dumbledore's office to her. Sophie rather enjoyed the feeling of rightfully walking the deserted corridors to Dumbledore's office.

After giving the password, the gargoyle leapt aside and Sophie strode up the stairs. At the top she (with some difficulty) retrieved one of her hands to rap on the wooden door to Dumbledore's office. She waited for a few moments but nothing happened. She knocked again, still nothing. After deliberating for a moment or two Sophie tentatively turned the door handle and stepped into the office.

She stood in the doorway and gazed around for several moments. She had never been inside Dumbledore's office before and was slightly in awe of all the strange instruments and devices inside. However as her eyes circled the room, they fell on one of the last things she expected to see there: a figure she recognized immediately as Harry's hunched over a stone basin, his head inside.

"Harry!" she cried, startled. "What're you doing here?"

Harry did not reply. She walked over to him and saw that his head was immersed in a peculiar substance; Sophie couldn't decide whether it looked more like a gas or a liquid. "Harry?" she asked agin, but he didn't seem to hear her. She leant forwards, putting her own head near Harry's. She could see what looked like a room with people down near the bottom of the basin (it looked such a _long_ way down too). She squinted and moved her face closer and closer to the surface, trying to see...

Suddenly and without warning, Sophie felt her whole body fall forwards. She screamed as she fell, then immediately wondered how she could have done so if she had fallen into a liquid. Her fall lasted only a couple terrifying seconds before she landed on something hard -she was sitting upright on a bench in the middle of a crowd of people and -Sophie saw with some surprise- Harry was sitting beside her.

"What're you doing here?" they asked each other simultaneously.

"I -I just came into Dumbledore's office," stumbled Sophie. "To give him some papers from Profes- and then you were there with your head in this- where are we?"

"I think," said Harry. "That we're inside one of Dumbledore's memories. He's there, see?" He indicated the man next to him and Sophie's heart gave a start to see that Dumbledore was sitting there, though he gave no signs of recognition to either Harry or Sophie. "These are memories of trials, I think, from after Voldemort was in power. No one can see or hear us," Harry explained.

"Yes?" came a harsh voice and Sophie saw, with another shock, that Mr. Crouch was seated there, apparently interrogating none other than Ludo Bagman who was sitting in the accused's seat. A witch from the Wizengamot had stood up to speak.

"We'd just like to congratulate Mr. Bagman on his splendid performance for England in

the Quidditch match against Turkey last Saturday."

Nearly the whole of the Wizengamot was applauding Bagman now, though Crouch looked unspeakably angry.

Suddenly the scene dispersed before Sophie's eyes and the applause died in her ears. The room reappeared, but quiet now, the tension so thick it could have been sliced with a knife. A sobbing woman was seated next to Crouch this time. Sophie thought he looked positively ill, though when he spoke his voice was one of deadly calm.

"Bring them in."

Sophie gasped as ten figures entered the room. Harry looked round at her questioningly, but she barely acknowledged him. She was too horrified by the sight before her: six of the figures were dementors and they brought four people, three men and a woman, to sit in chairs before the Wizengamot where they were bound with chains. Sophie did not need to be told who these people were: her aunt and uncle and their two accomplices who had tortured Neville's parents into insanity in an attempt to discover the whereabouts of Voldemort their master. Sophie gripped the edge of the bench wondering if she might faint. Try as she might, her eyes continued to dart back to the woman's face. The resemblance was so blatant, so uncanny that she could hardly stop herself from thinking "Mum," as her eyes fell upon that tall thin figure, the beautiful complexion, the heavily hooded eyes...this was the closest Sophie had ever come to seeing her aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange, in the flesh. Crouch spoke again.

"You have been brought here before the Council of Magical Law so that we may pass judgment on you, for a crime so heinous-" Crouch raised his voice for his son had started pleading with him. "- that we have rarely heard the like of it within this court. We have heard the evidence against you. The four of you stand accused of capturing an Auror-Frank Longbottom-and subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse, believing him to have knowledge of the present whereabouts of your exiled master, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. You are further accused of using the Cruciatus Curse on Frank Longbottom's wife, when he would not give you information. You planned to restore He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to power, and to resume the lives of violence you presumably led while he was strong."

Sophie stopped trying to prevent herself. She gazed at her aunt full in the face, trying to discern any emotion in her face. Bellatrix's face was impassive, she stared straight ahead, seemingly untroubled by Crouch's words. "She must know," thought Sophie to herself. "She must know that she's about to get life in Azkaban; that they all are. And she doesn't care...?" Her aunt sat with perfect posture, her manner composed, her chest rising and falling normally with her breathing. "She's _proud_," thought Sophie in disgust and horror. "_Proud._" Images of Neville watching the writhing spider, her mother in tears, Sirius haggard from Azkaban and the Dark Mark in the sky all flashed through Sophie's mind.

As the dementors returned to take the prisoners out of the dungeon, Bellatrix stood, and Sophie heard her speak for the first time:

"The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch! Throw us into Azkaban; we will wait!" Bellatrix's face was flushed with colour even as the dementors advanced upon her. "He will rise again and will come for us, he will reward us beyond any of his other supporters! We alone were faithful! We alone tried to find him!" She did not resist as the dementors seized her and pulled her from the room.

Crouch's son would not go so easily. He twisted and tried to escape the dementor's cold grip.

"Father!" he screamed. "Father, I wasn't involved! No! No! Father, please!"

"I think, it is time for the two of you to return to my office," Sophie heard a voice say, then felt herself being pulled upwards by the elbow.

Present-day Dumbledore was there; he had pulled them back to his office where they were now standing, the stone basin beside them.

Sophie and Harry launched into apologetic explanations.

"Professor, I'm so sorry-"

"I didn't mean-the cabinet door was sort of open and-"

"I quite understand." Dumbledore bent and picked up the basin carrying it to his desk where he sat down. Sophie noticed a stack of parchment beside it on the floor, which she realized she had dropped there earlier.

"Er, Professor Vector sent me with that parchment to give you, sir," she explained as Dumbledore indicated she and Harry sit opposite him.

"Thank you, Miss Tonks," said Dumbledore.

"What is that?" queried Harry, nodding at the basin.

"This? It is called a Pensieve. I sometimes find, and I am sure you both know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind. At these times I use the Pensieve. One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one's mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one's leisure. It becomes easier to spot patterns and links, you understand, when they are in this form."

"You mean," said Harry slowly. "That stuff's your thoughts?"

"Certainly," said Dumbledore. He proceeded to show them how the Pensieve worked by him extracting some more of the silvery substance from his temple and dropping it in, where his memories then appeared. "I was using the Pensieve when Mr. Fudge arrived for our meeting and put it away rather hastily," Dumbledore went on. "Undoubtedly I did not fasten the cabinet door properly. Naturally, it would have attracted your attention."

"We're sorry," said Sophie in a small voice.

"Curiosity is not a sin. But we should exercise caution with our curiosity," said Dumbledore. "Yes, indeed ..."

"Professor?"

Dumbledore replied, "Yes, Harry?"

"You know - you know the trial you found me in?" said Harry, and Sophie stared down at her hands, trying to blink back the tears that had suddenly sprung up in her eyes and having little success. "The one with Crouch's son? Well...were they talking about Neville's parents?"

"Has Neville never told you why he has been brought up by his grandmother?" asked Dumbledore.

Sophie was vaguely aware of Harry shaking his head.

"You know, I assume, Miss Tonks?"

Sophie nodded. "I've always known," she said quietly, her cheeks suddenly wet with silent tears.

"You have?" asked Harry, surprised. "But why didn't you-"

"Yes, they were talking about Neville's parents," interjected Dumbledore. "His father, Frank, was an Auror just like Professor Moody. He and his wife were tortured for information about Voldemort's whereabouts after he lost his powers, as you heard."

"So they're dead?" said Harry quietly.

"No. They are insane. They are both in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I believe Neville visits them with his grandmother during the holidays. They do not recognise him." Dumbledore stood up, produced a handkerchief from his wandtip and handed it to Sophie. She tried to murmur a word of thanks but her throat was too constricted.

"But Sophie," said Harry. "How did you know? Did Neville tell you?"

Sophie swallowed painfully. "No," She wiped her eyes on the handkerchief and spoke to it rather than look at Harry. "I've always known. That-that woman we just saw in the last trial, that's Bellatrix Lestrange. She's my - my aunt; she's my mother's sister. You must have - noticed how much I look like her." She gave a little hiccough. "Bellatrix and her husband and his brother went to Azkaban for torturing Neville's parents," finished Sophie.

Dumbledore reached into his desk and pulled out a large piece of chocolate. "Here, Sophronia," he said, handing it to her. "Madam Pomfrey would be very angry if she knew you were in this state and not given any chocolate." Sophie accepted the chocolate mutely. "I suggest you go now," Dumbledore continued kindly. "I believe dinner will be starting soon. I just want to have a few more words with Harry. Sophie stood up to leave. "And Sophronia-" Dumbledore spoke again. "I would advise you to remember what you and your friends were telling Hagrid several months ago: the character of a person has is of infinitely more importance than the sort of family they possess."

Sophie inclined her head slowly. "Thanks, Professor" she muttered, and turned and left the circular office, her cheeks tearstained and her heart beating noticeably fast.


	27. All Along

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement._

Sophie spent a great deal of that June helping Harry to practice for the third task. This final one was causing a lot less desperate stress attacks because they all had an idea of what was coming this time; a maze was being grown on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch and it would be filled with obstacles for the champions to pass in order to reach the Triwizard Cup at the maze's centre. As a school champion, Harry was exempt from taking exams, though Sophie, Hermione and Ron still had to. Nevertheless Sophie didn't study inasmuch as she did her best to help Harry learn all he could in order to be successful in the maze. Harry had practiced Stunning on Ron, who grew disgruntled being repeatedly knocked unconscious and landing on the floor, so Sophie volunteered herself for Harry to Stun. He became very skilled at it, and Sophie consequently had a slight headache for a while afterwards from landing so often on the stone floor. Even aside from Stunning, Sophie couldn't help noticing how incredibly skilled Harry was becoming at picking up new Defense skills; in fact she thought he probably rivaled Hermione in practical application, though she kept this to herself.

June twenty-fourth came and Sophie, though still anxious for Harry's safety, couldn't help but revel in this cautious confidence in comparison to the desperate scramble before the previous task. The one dampening aspect of the morning was an article written by Rita Skeeter of the Daily Prophet, claiming that Harry may be disturbed in his mind, referencing his scar burnings (which had become worrisomely more frequent of late) and Draco Malfoy's announcement in the _Prophet_ that Harry was a Parselmouth. Despite all this, however, the morning went fairly well. Sophie had her last examination (History of Magic –which, thanks to last-minute studying of Hermione's notes, she thought she may have done fairly well on) and Mrs. Weasley and Bill Weasley both showed up to watch Harry perform in the last task.

"Not that there'll be much to see, from the sounds of it," said Sally-Anne to Sophie at dinner that evening while rolling her eyes. "It sounds like it'll be just like last time; we'll all just sit in the stands and wait until the champions are finished."

Sophie nodded absently. Her attention was on Harry. He hadn't taken much food and was eating even less. Sophie had noticed this year that Harry, when stressed, stopped eating. She reached over to him and squeezed his arm, giving him what she hoped was a comforting smile. "Just think: it'll all be over in a few hours," she whispered. He nodded.

Eventually Dumbledore announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now."

The Gryffindor table burst into applause and cheers as Harry got up to depart. "Good luck!" Sophie called to him as he left.

"He'll be fine," said Hermione, as though to convince herself more than anyone else. She too was not touching her dinner.

"'Course he will," said Ron. "Remember how he took Sophie and me out with those Stunners?"

"Vividly," Sophie replied.

The Great Hall soon began to clear out as people made their way down to the Quidditch pitch to watch the third and final task. Sophie, Hermione and Ron sat with Ginny, Fred, George, Bill and Mrs. Weasley in the stands. Sigmund came and found her as well.

"Hi," he said. "Mind if I join you?"

Sophie grinned in spite of herself and budged over to make space for him. "Be my guest." Sigmund sat down and took her hand in his, giving it a friendly squeeze which Sophie returned appreciatively.

"Harry's going to win," said Ron, peering through his Omniculars at the champions on the ground below. "I just have a feeling, you know?"

"I'm sure he'll do very well," said Mrs. Weasley. "I'm just glad they've taken precautions and have some teachers keeping watch around the edge…"

"Ladies and gentlemen," came Mr. Bagman's voice. "The third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each - Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School! In second place, with eighty points - Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute! And in third place - Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!" Bagman blew his whistle and Harry and Cedric both ran into the haze of bushes and disappeared from sight, amidst cheers from Hogwarts students.

Viktor entered the maze next, followed shortly after by Fleur.

"All in now," said Ron, leaning back in his seat. "Nothing to do but hope Harry remembers everything we taught him and wait till he comes out holding that Cup."

Sophie gave a long sigh. Sigmund glanced at her. "Are you OK?"

Sophie shrugged. "I'll feel better when this is all over." She felt like back in October Harry, and by extension, she, had been put on a wild broomstick ride without either of them giving consent and now she couldn't wait for the final stretch to be over, regardless of who won, so that she could regain her footing upon the sure surface of solid ground once more.

The audience in the stands chatted while waiting in anticipation for the champions to return. Suddenly, without warning, red sparks flew upwards from the between the hedges near the edge of the maze. The crowd hushed a little.

"What the-" began Ron.

"Someone's probably forfeited," said Hermione, squeezing her hands together in her lap anxiously.

In a few moments they saw some of the teachers emerging from the maze, helping Fleur along. She was limping and seemed mildly injured and disoriented. Mr. Bagman's magically projected voice spoke again: "Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons has formally forfeited participating in the rest of this task. We await the return of the other three champions."

"You think she's OK?" wondered Ginny.

"I hope so," said Sophie.

"She looks fine," said Sigmund, squinting own at her. "Just a bit shaken up."

Fleur did seem to be, in the main, all right. The waiting went on. Sophie and Sigmund chatted while they waited. She knew he was trying to distract her from her present worry, and for this she was grateful and tried to oblige him. However, after some time, more red sparks flew up and the crowd's attention was immediately fixated once more. This time it was a stumbling Viktor who was led out of the maze. He seemed even more disoriented than Fleur had.

"You know what this means?" said Ron, slowly. "It's a Hogwarts victory!"

Sigmund nodded. "If one of them makes it out OK. Which I'm sure they will."

With only two champions left, the general feeling seemed to be that surely one would soon emerge victorious. This was not the case, though. Hours passed.

"_What_ in the name of Merlin is going on in there?" Sophie finally burst out.

Hermione shrugged. She had taken to clutching at her hair in anxiety.

Although it was the end of June, as the evening drew on, the night air became chillier and chillier, and Sigmund put his arm around Sophie to draw them closer together for warmth.

Suddenly, and without warning, there was a commotion near the start of the maze. Sophie immediately leapt to her feet and caught a glimpse of what appeared to be the bodies of Harry and Cedric lying facedown on the ground, Harry's hand clutching the Triwizard Cup. Neither was moving.

"They're back!" shouted Ron. "They're back and Harry's got the Cup!"

"Shut up, Ron!" Sophie snapped. "Something's wrong!"

"What d'you mean?"

Dumbledore was approaching the two figures on the ground. He bent over and seemed to be speaking to Harry, when the Minister, Fudge, joined him. Then, as if a wave was rippling through the crowd, fanning out from the huddle of Fudge, Dumbledore, Harry and Cedric, the message came, passed from neighbour to neighbour. It was whispered, screamed, understood, and yet was meaningless.

"It's Diggory; he's dead!"

"They're saying he's dead-"

"_Dead!_ Diggory's _dead!" _

Sophie's mind reeled. The words didn't seem to be processing properly in her brain. They seemed to have lost meaning, or else she had forgotten their meaning. It was all too real, and yet so utterly unimaginable that it couldn't be true…

People all around were screaming and shouting. Sophie didn't know if she was screaming with them or not; her mind seemed to have oddly detached itself from the scene. She was vaguely aware of Hermione saying that Professor Moody was leading Harry away, probably, she said, to the hospital wing.

"Let's go," said Mrs. Weasley. "To the hospital wing; to see if Harry's all right."

"He probably wouldn't want to see me right now," said Sigmund. "I'll see you later, Sophie."

She nodded dazedly, Mrs. Weasley and Sigmund's words barely registering with her. "OK."

Getting to the hospital wing from the mass of people seemed to take an eternity, but finally she, Hermione and the Weasleys all made it back to the castle and somehow found their way to the hospital wing. But Harry was not there when they reached it.

"Isn't Harry Potter here?" Mrs. Weasley asked Madam Pomfrey.

She shook her head. "No, I haven't seen him at all."

"What's going on?" asked Bill.

"I don't know," she said, a worried crease between her brows. "I am just treating Professor Moody at the moment." She indicated the bed behind her where Sophie noticed Moody lying for the first time. He looked like a completely different person from the figure who had escorted Harry away only a short while ago. His eye and wooden leg were missing.

They wouldn't leave the hospital wing, feeling confident that Harry must turn up here at some point or other. They continued to question Madam Pomfrey to see if she knew anything more, and she became rather irritated telling them that she didn't know any more about what was going on than they did.

Finally, however, their waiting paid off as Dumbledore entered with Harry and a great black dog that Sophie, Hermione and Ron recognized as Sirius and they all glanced at each other meaningfully.

"Harry!" cried Mrs. Weasley. "Oh Harry!"

Dumbledore stepped in front of Harry to prevent Mrs. Weasley from reaching him and spoke, "Molly, please listen to me for a moment. Harry has been through a terrible ordeal tonight. He has just had to relive it for me. What he needs now is sleep, and peace, and quiet. If he would like you all to stay with him you may do so. But I do not want you questioning him until he is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening."

Sophie nodded mutely. Mrs. Weasley turned to her, Hermione, Ron and Bill and said,  
"Did you hear? He needs quiet!" As if they were deaf. Sophie watched Harry with concern and confusion. He seemed to be all right, though pale and shaken. What on earth had happened?

Harry got into bed and the five of them sat in chairs beside him. He said, "I'm all right. Just tired."

Sophie nodded as Madam Pomfrey gave Harry a potion for his sleep, which he proceeded to drink, and then shortly fell asleep. She noted that he looked pale and exhausted and that his arm was bleeding. But he didn't seem badly hurt.

Sophie felt very awkward sitting there silently with Harry there sleeping. None of them knew what had happened and the time seemed to tick by slower than a Flobberworm's crawling. Eventually, however, they began to hear the sound of voices coming from above, and they sounded angry.

"_Now _what's going on?" ventured Sophie in a whisper.

"They'll wake him if they don't shut up!" said Bill.

"What are they shouting about?" asked Hermione. "Nothing else can have happened, can it?"

Mrs. Weasley stood up and listened closely. "That's Fudge's voice. And that's Minerva McGonagall's, isn't it? But what are they arguing about?"

Sophie stood as well, listening to the thundering footsteps and voices nearing the hospital wing. She saw that Harry had apparently woken up and was sitting up in bed, putting his glasses on. Suddenly the hospital doors opened so violently they almost flew off their hinges and Fudge and Professors Snape and McGonagall all entered. Fudge was looking for Dumbledore, who arrived momentarily. As it transpired, the reason for Professor McGonagall's anger had to do with a Dementor Fudge had brought with him into Hogwarts and had sucked out the soul –Sophie's stomach turned over- of (they said) Barty Crouch. Sophie was increasingly confused, however as Dumbledore and Fudge spoke, the events of that evening suddenly started to fall into place in her mind like the various pieces of a jigsaw puzzle…

The following days were bright and sunny and conveyed the sweet expectations of the yearly release from school. The atmosphere was the antithesis of Sophie's feelings about recent events and the great unknown in front of her.

Sigmund found her one day sitting by herself on the edge of the lake gazing out over the water glimmering in the sunshine.

"Hi Sigmund," she said, not moving her gaze.

"Hey Sophie," he replied. There was a pause. Sigmund cleared his throat.

"Dumbledore said You-Know-Who killed Cedric." He glanced sideways at her. "Do you- I mean, has Harry Potter said anything to you about that?"

"Voldemort's back," said Sophie still looking out over the lake, her voice dull. Sigmund gave a slight shiver at the sound of the forbidden name, but made no comment on it. "Barty Crouch Jr. was a Death Eater who escaped Azkaban and has been using Polyjuice Potion all year to impersonate Mad-Eye Moody. He turned the Triwizard Cup into a Portkey so that when Harry and Cedric touched it they went to a graveyard where Voldemort was. He wanted Harry's blood for himself to regain his powers and he killed Cedric. He's recalled his Death Eaters and he's back." Sophie spoke as if reciting a speech she had memorized.

Sigmund asked, "And the Ministry isn't-"

"No," said Sophie. "Fudge is refusing to believe any of it, even though Snape showed him his Dark Mark. He used to be a Death Eater," she nodded in confirmation of the unasked question on Sigmund's face. "All the Death Eaters have the Mark burnt into their left forearm." She ran her fingers over the spot that Snape had shown on her own arm. Then she shook her head absently. "Fudge would rather believe Harry's made the whole thing up for attention, or else is crazy, than face the truth."

"They'll have a job explaining Cedric's death, then," remarked Sigmund.

"You believe him, then?"

"Of course. You know Harry and you believe him. I haven't seen any other explanation for how Cedric died."

There was silence between them for a while more. Finally Sigmund spoke again.

"It's just awful, isn't it? I mean, neither of us really knew him at all, but it's like a ripple effect went through the school and hit all of us, isn't it?"

Sophie hesitated for a moment. "Oh, Cedric. Yes, it really is. The school fells emptier somehow."

"I didn't mean to catch you off guard," said Sigmund. "What were you thinking about?"

"It's just-" Sophie shook her head and spoke to her fingernails. "I worked so hard all year to help Harry get through those tasks. I wanted him to do as well as he could-barring that, just to help him survive. But now-" she took a breath. "Now, it's just so ironic; I see the best way to ensure his survival would have been for him to have not participated, or to have done so badly he couldn't have been the first to reach the Cup."

"It's not your fault," said Sigmund. "There was no way you could have known."

"I know," said Sophie. "It's just the strangest thing thinking that I was trying to help my friend, but all along Voldemort was under it all, giving approval." She wrinkled her brow, repulsed. "Moody says 'constant vigilance,' but it doesn't seem to be enough."

"He would probably agree," said Sigmund.

Sophie found it difficult to comprehend why her cousin saw fit to annoy her and her friends with his presence on train rides, but this seemed to be his habit of choice, she reflected, as Malfoy's pale face jeered at them from their doorway.

"Trying not to think about it, are we? Trying to pretend it hasn't happened?"

Harry spoke, "Get out."

Malfoy lingered a few moments, clearly wanting to needle them some more.

"Didn't you hear Harry?" said Sophie, standing up and facing Malfoy straight on. "He told you to get out."

Malfoy sneered, and ignored Sophie, speaking to Harry beyond her. "You've picked the losing side, Potter! I warned you! I told you you ought to choose your company more carefully, remember? When we met on the train, first day at Hogwarts? I told you not to hang around with riffraff like this. Too late now Potter! They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's back! Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers first!"

Sophie put her left hand into her pocket, ready to whip out her wand, if it was needed.

"Well," smirked Malfoy. "Second - Diggory was the f-"

It was.

"_Flipendo," _yelled Sophie, aiming straight into her cousin's face. He was blasted backwards, as were Crabbe and Goyle, and the compartment was, for a moment, filled with a blast of sound and light; Hermione, Harry, Ron, Fred and George (the latter two having just arrived on the scene) had all shot spells at them at the same time.

Sophie was not in the best of spirits on the train ride back to King's Cross, but it was something of a consolation to see the arrogance of Draco Malfoy lying on the floor helpless the whole time. When the train finally arrived, she and the others simply stepped over the three boys and continued on out to the platform.

Once they had all assembled together on the Muggle side of Platform 9 and ¾, Sophie saw Sigmund waiting to be picked up by his parents. He saw her too and came over to her.

"Your parents here?" he asked her.

Sophie, who had just seen her father through the crowd, replied, "Yes."

Sigmund nodded and smiled. "I'll write to you," he said, and gave her a brief kiss on the lips before dashing away.

Sophie smiled and turned back to Harry. "I'll see you this summer again," she told him. "Promise." Then she turned away, dragging her suitcase towards her father.

**Well, there it is. I can't believe I'm posting the last GoF-era chapter. Ack! (And it's WAY overdue. Really sorry, guys. School has invaded my life.) I am currently writing DH-era chapters and enjoying it immensely. Some of you seemed to be upset/taken aback that nothing happened with Sophie and Harry on a romantic level, particularly with the Yule Ball and stuff in this year. I guess I can understand that, as I sort of pulled Sigmund straight out of my hat. Gah! I am SO tempted to give hints about Sophie's romantic future here, as I did a few things in some of these GoF chapters that laid the groundwork for Sophie's love life later on, but I've probably said too much already ;)**

**Anyways, I hope that even if you're disappointed that nothing has happened between Sophie and Harry so far, you're still enjoying the story and will keep reading and reviewing. Thanks so much! **


	28. An Unfortunate Tie

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement._

_Dear Harry, July 30, 1995 _

_It's late and you'll probably get this letter tomorrow, so happy fifteenth birthday! We've been told not to tell you anything, but I think that's crazy, so you're welcome (I may have to be a bit vague in case this letter goes astray, but I won't withhold any pertinent information that I possess). _

_I'm at the headquarters for the organization that our oldest teacher formed for fighting him last time. I got here a couple weeks ago, after Ron and Hermione had already been here… _

Sophie had expected to have to try and persuade her parents and sister of Voldemort's return, but on returning home found this unnecessary, as Dora was already several steps ahead of her.

"How-" began Sophie, but Dora cut her off.

"Mad-Eye. He came to the Auror office and pulled me aside to tell me the whole story about Harry Potter and that Diggory boy and You-Know-Who coming back. He said that Dumbledore was gathering together people interested in fighting You-Know-Who, and would I be interested in joining. And I told him I was, of course," Dora explained, twisting a lock of her raven-black hair around her finger as she spoke to Sophie at the kitchen table.

"So what have you joined exactly?"

"It's called the Order of the Phoenix," said Dora.

"Cool."

Dora grinned. "I like it too. Dumbledore founded it during the war last time and he's recalled it and is trying to recruit more people. Like me."

"Can I-" began Sophie.

Dora shook her head. "Sorry, Sophie, but Dumbledore made it clear that you've got to be of age and finished school."

"So what are you guys doing, exactly?"

"Well, I can't tell you exact- Oh my God!" Dora suddenly straightened up and clasped a hand to her forehead.

"What?" cried Sophie.

"I can't believe I forgot to tell you this right away, I guess I was so distracted about You Know Who. You'll never believe me, but Sirius Black is actually innocent!"

Sophie briefly considered acting surprised, but then nodded. "I know."

"What do you mean, you know?"

"I've, uh, known he was innocent for a year now. It's sort of a long story, but he ran into Hermione, Harry, Ron and me and the whole thing just sort of came out."

Dora stared at her.

"Sorry," said Sophie, uncomfortably. "Dumbledore wanted us to keep it quiet. There was no proof or anything."

"There still isn't," said Mrs. Tonks, entering the kitchen. She gazed shrewdly at Sophie.

Sophie glanced at her sister, her mother and back again. "Nymphadora has told your father and me everything," said Mrs. Tonks in response to Sophie's unasked question.

"And you guys believe her, right?"

"Yes," sighed Mrs. Tonks, her brow furrowed. "I don't want to, but everything Nymphadora has said comes from credible people, and I would easier believe this from Dumbledore than believe he is touched in the head."

"And Sirius-"

"Yes, everything about Sirius too." Mrs. Tonks turned her back to her daughters and busied herself about in front of the stove making a pot of tea.

"Have you seen him yet?" asked Sophie.

"No."

"I have," said Dora. "His house is the headquarters for the Order."

Mrs. Tonks paused in her tea-making. "Twelve Grimmauld Place?" she asked in an undertone.

"Yeah," said Dora. "It's under Fidelius, though."

Mrs. Tonks waved her want at the kettle, causing it to begin steaming. "I remember that house. It was terrible."

"It was probably a sight better than it is now," said Dora. "No one's lived there for ten years since Sirius' mother died except the old House-Elf."

"Kreacher?" asked Mrs. Tonks in surprise. "He's still alive?"

"Yeah," said Dora. "But he's crazy."

"Hey, you have to be nice to House-Elves in my presence," said Sophie in mock disapproval. "I'm one of the founding members of The Campaign for the Rights of Elves, remember?"

Dora grinned. "Yeah, well, anyways, the point I'm trying to get to is that Arthur and Molly and Bill and Charlie Weasley are all in the Order as well, and Ron is staying there at Grimmauld Place with his parents, and Hermione is there as well, so you could go visit them there, if you'd like. And if Mum and Dad let you," she added.

They did.

"So what goes on around here?" asked Sophie, leaning against Ron's bed in a dark and dingy room of 12 Grimmauld Place.

"Cleaning mostly," said Ron. "Well, and meetings. It's headquarters, so Order members keep coming in and out."

"Who's in it?"

"Lots of people" said Hermione. "Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Sirius, Lupin, Moody, an Auror called Kingsley Shacklebolt-"

"Oh, yeah, Dora's mentioned him," nodded Sophie.

"A thief called Mundungus Fletcher," added Ron, grinning. Ginny giggled.

"Ron!" Hermione frowned in disapproval.

"What about Harry?" Sophie asked. "What's going on with him?"

"Well," said Hermione, looking uncomfortable. 'The thing is, Dumbledore made us swear not to tell him anything, so even though we write to him and stuff, we aren't allowed to tell him where we are or what's going on or _anything_."

"Why?" asked Sophie, frowning.

Ron shrugged. "No idea. He was very strict about it, though."

"So, uh, you mean I'm not allowed to write to Harry about anything that goes on here?" asked Sophie. "He's going to _love_ that…"

Mrs. Weasley appeared in the doorframe. "Sophie, dear, Sirius has found Kreacher and we would like you to come down to the kitchen."

"Sure, Mrs. Weasley," said Sophie. She turned and raised her eyebrows and shrugged at Hermione, Ron and Ginny before following Mrs. Weasley down the stairs to the basement kitchen.

An old, shriveled-looking house-elf was there, hunched over and wearing a worn loincloth. Dora was sitting at the kitchen table with Sirius who was gazing at the elf with an expression of great distaste.

The house-elf looked up when Sophie and Mrs. Weasley entered the kitchen. "And there's its sister," muttered the elf audibly. "She's much more like Miss Dromeda, the nasty blood traitor who brought so much distress to my mistress, oh, the shame, shame to the house of Black, what a terrible day-"

"Shut up, Kreacher," said Sirius loudly. The elf –Kreacher- shut up with a slight acknowledging bow to Sirius.

"You understand who Kreacher is, Sophie?" asked Mrs. Weasley. Sophie nodded.

"Since my father died, I'm the head of the family, and he has to obey me," said Sirius. "Although it's a bit of a complicated situation, since I'm the head of a family that disowned me. We're wondering if he would have to obey you and Tonks as well, since your mother is a Black by birth, even though she's disowned as well."

Dora shook her head. "I don't think this will work, Sirius."

He shrugged. "I don't really either, but we may as well try. Both of you give him an order."

"Come here, Kreacher," said Dora. Kreacher did not move, but only glared at Dora.

"Kreacher, sit down," said Sophie, pulling out a chair at the table. Kreacher wrinkled up his nose.

"Nasty brats of a blood traitor try and tell Kreacher what to do, but Kreacher won't, oh, no. Kreacher must do what Master Sirius tells him, even though Kreacher would prefer only to listen to his mistress-"

"I told you to shut up," snapped Sirius and Kreacher bowed again, ridiculously low, and fell silent.

"Well, that's that," sighed Mrs. Weasley.

_So that's what happened when I arrived, Harry. Really, nothing all that significant has really happened since. There're meetings every few days, but we're not allowed in, and they don't tell us anything even though we're dying to know what's going on. We've worked out just a bit so far; we know he's gathering followers and our people are trying to convince everyone about the truth, but that's nearly impossible. Hopefully you'll be able to come to us soon. Whatever you do, please don't write to Sirius or anyone telling them that I've written you all this; it'll get around and Mrs. Weasley will explode. We're just cleaning everyday here; we've done a couple floors so far; but you're not missing anything there (except us, of course, we miss you too). I know you must be extremely frustrated; (particularly after all you went through last June) we're frustrated too. We want information and we want to see you. Hang in there!_

_Love,_

_Sophie_

"No, he hasn't," said Sophie, shaking her head fiercely. "He can't have been."

Run shrugged, though his eyes were wide with concern. "That's what Dad said, though: Harry's been expelled from Hogwarts."

"For defending himself against Dementors?" asked Sophie incredulously.

"The thing is," said Hermione thoughtfully, though visibly upset by this news, "The Ministry is supposedly in control of Dementor behaviour, so they can just say they didn't send them to Little Whinging and that Harry made them off just to cover up his using magic."

"Someone'd have to be pretty thick to believe he'd do that," said Ron.

"But they've been spreading the word the word that Harry's a disturbed, attention-seeking freak," said Hermione, casting an expression of distaste over at a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ lying on a nearby desk. A recent article published in it had compared the claims of a wizard from the West country to have found the arborous grave of Merlin to those of "a certain scarred, fame-seeking boy."

"Dad said Dumbledore's trying to get him out of it," said Ron. "Convince Fudge that Harry shouldn't be expelled."

Sophie's brow was creased with worry. "But Fudge thinks Dumbledore's going around the twist too, remember?"

"I know," said Hermione quietly. "I just," she swallowed. "I just can't imagine the three of us going off to Hogwarts in September without him."

Sophie and Ron both nodded their agreement. It was a horrible prospect.

As it transpired, Harry was not immediately expelled from Hogwarts, but would face a disciplinary hearing that August where, if found guilty, he _would_ be expelled from Hogwarts.

Soon after his Dementor attack, Harry did join them at 12 Grimmauld Place, to the mutual joy of Sophie, Hermione and Ron. Harry was rather angry at having been left out for so long, though he was mollified to find that Sophie's letter to him really did contain all the information she had had to give him.

Unlike Hermione, the Weasleys, and now Harry, Sophie was not always living at Grimmauld Place. Her parents (who hadn't seen her at all the previous school year) wanted her to still come home, which she did, several times that summer. One returning from one of these occasions in early August Mrs. Weasley greeted her as Sophie was climbing the stairs.

"Oh, hello Sophie. We're cleaning out the drawing room right now, but we've just stopped to have lunch; you can join us."

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley," said Sophie. 'But I just had lunch before I came."

Sophie continued on up the stairs to the drawing room, approaching the doorway when Harry suddenly appeared from behind the door.

"Hi Harry," Sophie grinned.

Harry did not return her greeting and furrowed his brow at the sight of her.

"What?" she asked, stopping at the top of the stairs.

"You never told me Malfoy was your cousin." Harry stated.

Sophie grimaced slightly and shifted awkwardly. She knew this had been bound to come out while they were all in this house steeped in Black family history.

"Does it matter?" she asked him.

"It's just- we've known Malfoy for four years," said Harry. "And all this time, and all this time, nobody ever- you never-" he seemed to grope for words. "We all saw it on the Black family tree in there," he finished, jerking his thumb towards the drawing room behind him.

Sophie nodded gravely. "Malfoy's mother is my mother's younger sister, Harry. After my mum and dad got married her whole family including Malfoy's mum never spoke to her again. Malfoy and I never saw each other until we were both on the train to Hogwarts in our first year. So now you know. I'm sorry that you're upset."

Sophie started to walk past Harry into the drawing room, but he caught her arm. "I'm not upset you're related to them, Sophie," he said. "I know what it's like- I've had to grow up with the Dursleys, remember? It's just…first it was Sirius, then that Lestrange woman-" Sophie glanced away. "And now the Malfoys. You didn't lie, but you never trusted us with this stuff "

Sophie pulled her arm out of Harry's hand. "You don't know what it's like, Harry. I know the Dursleys aren't great to you, but at least they're not murderers who would kill you or worse if they got the chance. When people look at you they remember your parents and think how they hope you'll be like them, but when they see me they remember my freaky family and tiptoe around me before their sure I _won't_ be like them." And without glancing back at Harry she continued into the drawing room.

Harry did not bring up the subject again and Hermione and Ron mentioned it only in passing to Sophie, for which she was very grateful. Almost all attentions were focused on Harry and the question of whether or not he would be expelled from Hogwarts as a result of his hearing.

Sophie was an early riser by nature, but Harry had already left with Mr. Weasley for his hearing by the time Sophie made it into the kitchen. She drummed her fingers, pretending to listen to a conversation between Sirius, Dora and Mrs. Weasley while nibbling at some toast and waiting for Hermione and Ron to come downstairs so that they could be anxious over Harry together.

Eventually bleary-eyed Hermione and Ron meandered into the kitchen and joined Sophie at the table.

"He'll be fine," said Hermione, twisting her fingers together, not touching her bacon. "There's no grounds –they can't make a case…it's in their own laws…"

No one verbalized the unspoken thought that shuddered around the table at Hermione's words: none of them trusted Fudge to observe the letter of every law when they knew he wanted to vilify Harry to preserve his own reputation.

It was late morning when they heard the front door swing open. They all froze; their eyes wide and fearful, fixed on each other as they heard two sets of footsteps coming down the stairs to the basement kitchen.

Harry entered the kitchen. "Well?" Sophie asked him, though her heart lifted as she believed she could see the verdict written on his face.

Harry grinned. "I'm coming back to Hogwarts."

"I knew it!" exclaimed Ron, raising his fist in triumph.

The day before returning to Hogwarts Sophie was packing her suitcase in the room she was sharing with Hermione in Grimmauld Place when she heard a squeal from behind her. She turned and saw Hermione clutching her Hogwarts letter close to her face.

"Hermione-?" Sophie asked.

Her friend turned to her, her face beaming. She held up a scarlet and gold badge. "I'm a prefect!"

"And you're surprised?" Sophie grinned. "Congratulations; you deserve it more than anyone."

Hermione blushed. "Do you think Harry-? I'll go see!" she cried, racing out of the room towards the one Ron and Harry shared.

Sophie smiled to herself and continued folding her robes as she placed them into her trunk. Eventually she turned her attention to her schoolbooks including a new one: _Defensive Magical Theory_ by Wilbert Slinkhard which looked incredibly dull and started packing those when Hermione hurried back into the room, this time carrying Hedwig.

"It's Ron," she told Sophie. "Ron's prefect and Harry lent me Hedwig to send a letter to Mum and Dad." There was something restrained in her voice that led Sophie to suspect her interaction with Harry had been les than agreeable. But she nodded just the same.

"Cool. I better go find Ron and congratulate him." And Sophie abandoned her open trunk and left, walking down the hall to Ron and Harry's room.

When she poked her head inside, however, she saw only Harry seated on the edge of one of the beds, his face in his hands.

"Harry?" she asked tentatively.

Harry dropped his hands and looked up quickly. "Hi Sophie," he said in a dull voice.

"Hi," she said, entering the room and sitting next to him on the bed. "It's great about Hermione and Ron, isn't it?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Great." He cast her a sideways glance. "Did you…I mean, are you disappointed at all?"

Sophie gave a rueful smile. "Of course, I knew I could never be a prefect next to Hermione. I guess that's probably how…" her voice trailed off and she shook her head slightly. 'I guess you've been too busy thinking about your hearing and everything to worry about prefects."

"What were you going to say?" asked Harry.

Sophie shrugged. "Just that Ron probably thought he could never be a prefect next to you either. But Harry, I think this is really good for him; he's got all this expectation on him because of his brothers and he almost never stands out next to you. Besides," she leaned forwards and grinned slightly. "Think about it; would you really want to be a prefect anyways? They've got a hell of a lot of extra work to do, supervising other students and stuff, and we're going to need all the spare time we can get, what with our OWLs and everything this year. And there's worse stuff to worry about than Ron being a prefect."

"Like what?" asked Harry.

Sophie raised her eyebrows. "Like who the boy Slytherin prefect will be."

Harry groaned, but Sophie could see he wasn't as upset as he had been when she had first entered.


	29. The Need to Defend

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement._

Any good feelings Sophie had entertained about returning to Hogwarts soon evaporated on her arrival. The school seemed to have been emptied of all goodness and pleasure; not only was the schoolwork much harder on return (as this was their fifth year, they would be taking their Ordinary Wizarding Levels at the year's end), but at least half the school seemed to believe all the Ministry's nonsense about Harry and Dumbledore and quite a few student's parents had withdrawn them from Hogwarts. Seamus Finningan's mother had not wanted him to return (though he had, anyways), and Sally-Anne and Lily Moon's parents actually had withdrawn them. Sophie had been very saddened to discover a morose looking Tracey Davis in a train compartment with Daphne Greengrass and Millicent Bulstrode. Pansy had been made a Slytherin prefect, much to Sophie's revulsion. Sophie wrote to Lily to inquire after her absence. Lily had replied-

_I'm very sorry about Pansy; it's my fault, really. I actually got the prefect's badge, but had to return it as Mum and Dad don't want me to go back to school. I think it's completely ridiculous, and told them so, but they are worried about the safety of Hogwarts after Cedric died last year. Mum's teaching me at home right now, and I am actively campaigning to return to Hogwarts. Look after Tracey for me, will you?_

Sally-Anne's removal had been very sudden; about a week before the end of August Dora had informed Sophie that Mr. and Mrs. Perks had decided Hogwarts was not safe anymore, and they had parceled Sally-Anne off to The Salem Witches' Institute, an all-girls' school in the United States.

_I wish I could convince Mum and Dad to let me return to Hogwarts_, Sally-Anne wrote. _I've tried everything I know to get them to bring me back, but they think I'm safer here. They are further behind in curriculum than we are and everything's so different here; I miss you and Hermione and Parvati and Lavender all so much._

Sophie missed Sally-Anne too. All four of the remaining girls in their dormitory seemed to sense a gaping hole when they went to bed at night; the sheets of one four-poster always smooth and never disturbed, marking Sally-Anne's absence conspicuous. Things were awkward enough in their dormitory as Lavender had expressed doubts regarding the validity of Harry's story (Parvati, at least, seemed to quietly support him).

Though these absences made Hogwarts seem a bit lonelier and emptier, at least in Sophie's estimation, she was glad to make a new acquaintance in the form of Luna Lovegood, a quirky and dreamy girl with no sense of self-consciousness. She was a fourth year Ravenclaw and they sat with her in their compartment. Sophie admired her inability to care about others' opinions of her; she reminded her of Lily.

Lily was gone, Sally-Anne was gone, Hagrid was gone as well (though no one seemed able to say where), Dumbledore often was not present, but few of these things was as bad as the Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons.

Defense lessons had that year been taken by one Dolores Umbridge, a Ministry witch prejudiced against half-breeds, intent on giving her students no opportunities to practically apply the spells they were learning. She seemed to think they would do fine on their OWLs, and certainly in the outside world, simply by learning the theory of Defense. Her toad-like appearance offset by her sickly-sweet manner, Umbridge had a habit of saying things that were so unjust and untrue, that Harry (who always seemed on the verge of flying off the handle) would lose his temper with her, and she was routinely in the habit of giving him detention for it. Detentions in which, for hours on end, Harry was forced to write with a quill that scratched his words into the back of his own hand, using his blood instead of ink.

"This can't go on!" cried Hermione one evening, slamming her books shut as she, Sophie and Ron sat in the common room doing their homework. "I can't bear to think of her slicing Harry's hand open right now! We've got to _do_ something about her!"

"Got any suggestions?" asked Sophie.

Ron sighed. "Poison," he said resignedly.

Sophie nodded. "I like it." At that moment Harry entered, holding his right hand in a scarf. Hermione gave him a bowl of Murtlap essence to soak his hand in, saying it would soothe the pain.

"She's an awful woman. Awful. You know," said Hermione to Harry, "I was just saying to Sophie and Ron when you came in… we've got to do something about her."

Ron spoke up, "I suggested poison."

"Or we could slip her some of the twins' Nosebleed Nougat," added Sophie, glancing at Harry's bloodied hand in the bowl. "See how _she_ likes bleeding all over the place."

"No," sighed Hermione. "I mean, something about what a dreadful teacher she is, and how we're not going to learn any Defense from her at all."

Ron shrugged. "Well, what can we do about that? It's too late, isn't it? She's got the job, she's here to stay. Fudge'll make sure of that."

Sophie raised one eyebrow mischievously. "Does Fudge know about the curse on the Defense job? She'll be gone after this year; mark my words. It's just our luck we were landed with her in our OWL year."

"_I _was thinking," Hermione interrupted Sophie pointedly. "That - maybe the time's come when we should just - just do it ourselves."

"Do what ourselves?"

"Well - learn Defense Against the Dark Arts ourselves," Hermione clarified.

Ron protested that neither he nor Harry could stand to take on any additional homework, to which Hermione pointed out that learning to defend oneself was more important than everyday class assignments. Ron remained unconvinced.

"We can't do much by ourselves. I mean, all right, we can go and look jinxes up in the library and try and practice them, I suppose -"

"It sound like the Triwizard Tournament all over again," muttered Sophie and Harry flashed her a small smile.

"No," said Hermione thoughtfully, ignoring this exchange. "I agree, we've gone past the stage where we can just learn things out of books. We need a teacher, a proper one, who can show us how to use the spells and correct us if we're going wrong."

Harry was skeptical. "If you're talking about Lupin…"

But Hermione shook her head. "Isn't it obvious? I'm talking about you, Harry."

"About me what?"

"I'm talking about you," said Hermione clearly. "Teaching us Defense Against the Dark Arts."

This had not occurred to Sophie before, but once Hermione spoke this aloud, she realized the wisdom of this suggestion. "Of course! Think about it; Hermione's best in Arithmancy; if we suddenly had a toad-faced moron as our Arithmancy professor, I'd nominate Hermione to teach the class in her spare time, so you, Harry, being the best in the year at Defense Against the Dark Arts, of course it should be you."

"Hermione's better-" Harry started.

"No," said Hermione, quite strongly. "You beat me in our third year - the only year we both sat the test and had a teacher who actually knew the subject. But I'm not talking about test results, Harry. Think what you've done!"

"How d'you mean?" asked Harry.

Ron shook his head. "You know what, I'm not sure I want someone this stupid teaching me. Let's think. Uh… first year - you saved the Philosopher's Stone from You-Know-Who."

"But that was luck, it wasn't skill," said Harry.

Ron spoke over him. "Second year, you killed the Basilisk."

"Yeah, but if Fawkes hadn't turned up, I -"

"Third year, you fought off about a hundred Dementors at once -"

"You know that was a fluke, if the Time-Turner hadn't -"

"Last year, you fought off You-Know-Who again-"

"Listen to me! Just listen to me, all right?" Harry was not playing along, and seemed almost angry, which Sophie perceived though Hermione and Ron both seemed amused. "It sounds great when you say it like that, but all that stuff was luck - I didn't know what I was doing half the time, I didn't plan any of it, I just did whatever I could think of, and I nearly always had help…Don't sit there grinning like you know better than I do, I was there, wasn't I? I know what went on, all right? I didn't get through any of that because I was brilliant at Defense Against the Dark Arts, I got through it all because - because help came at the right time, or because I guessed right - but I just blundered through it all, I didn't have a clue what I was doing - STOP LAUGHING!"

Harry's last words were punctuated by his bowl of Murtlap essence falling to the floor with an almighty crash.

"You don't know what it's like! You - neither of you - you've never had to face him, have you? You think it's just memorizing a bunch of spells and throwing them at him, like you're in class or something? Sophie-" he turned to her, as though appealing for support. "Sophie you know, you were in the Chamber of Secrets with me, you saw –Riddle would have killed me in a minute if it hadn't been for Fawkes- you know, the whole time you're sure you know there's nothing between you and dying except your own - your own brain or guts or whatever - like you can think straight when you know you're about a second from being murdered, or tortured, or watching your friends die - they've never taught us that in their classes, what it's like to deal with things like that -"

Hermione spoke up again, "Harry, don't you see? This… this is exactly why we need you… we need to know what it's r-really like… facing him… facing V-Voldemort."

Sophie's attention was suddenly focused on Hermione. She had never heard her best friend speak the name before, though she had rolled her eyes whenever Hermione said "You Know Who" and marveled at the fact that though Hermione had been raised without any knowledge of wizards or Voldemort, she still picked up on the taboo of saying the latter's name. She smiled at her now. "Well done," she said softly.

Hermione gave her the briefest of smiles, then said to Harry, "Well… think about it. Please?" Harry nodded. "Well, I'm off to bed. Erm… night." And Hermione trooped up the stairs.

"I'm going too," said Sophie, standing. She paused before leaving, gazing at Harry. "Harry, she said, rather tentatively, not wanting to anger him again, "I know it was really really lucky that Fawkes showed up when he did, and I know you're really modest, but I know what I saw: I saw a twelve-year-old kid swinging the sword of Gryffindor at a monster serpent that was trying to kill him. If that's not 'Defense Against the Dark Arts,' then I don't know what is." And, feeling slightly awkward, but determined, she leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before scarpering up the stairs after Hermione.

Harry did eventually agree to teach all interested some methods of Defense, so Sophie, Hermione and Ron took it upon themselves to quietly spread the word.

"We're all going to meet in the Hog's Head next Hogsmeade weekend," said Sophie in an undertone to Anthony Goldstein, their head bent together in during an Arithmancy class. "You can bring other Ravenclaws too, if you'd think they'd like to come –although Ginny's probably already told Michael."

Anthony nodded. "Sure; I think they'd both be interested."

Sophie hesitated a moment before asking, "Have you heard from Lily lately?"

Anthony shrugged. "Well, we write each other a lot. I think Lily'd be really interested in coming to this meeting too, if she was here."

"Yeah," sighed Sophie. "I know she would."

"Hi Tracey," said Sophie, sitting down across from Tracey Davis one Potions class. Tracey had been sitting beside Daphne Greengrass and opened her mouth slightly in surprise as Sophie sat down, then quickly closed it.

"Hi Sophie," she said, hesitantly.

Daphne looked at Sophie as though she were one of the ground beetles they were using in today's potion, but made no comment.

"So, Tracey," began Sophie, not eager to bring the subject in front of Daphne. "A group of us are going to meet in the Hog's Head next weekend to – to discuss how we can better prepare ourselves for our Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in coming?"

Daphne snorted. Sophie glanced at her in polite bewilderment. "You're very welcome to come as well, Daphne, of course."

Daphne smirked. "What, come to some nerdy study session with you and Granger? I don't think so."

Tracey swallowed and stared into her lap. "I, uh…" She glanced up to see Daphne staring down at her with raised eyebrows, then quickly looked away. "I can't; I'm busy…I've got plans with Daphne and Pansy." She opened her mouth as if to add something else, then closed it again.

Sophie shrugged and refocused her attention on her potion.

The meeting in the Hog's Head was quite successful, in Sophie's opinion. A couple dozen people had shown up besides herself, Hermione, Harry and Ron, and they had all signed their names to a parchment Hermione had (she confided to Sophie) enchanted so that none of them could betray the group to Umbridge without paying for it. Sophie had raised her eyebrows but made no comment when Hermione told herself, though she thought privately to herself that this measure was a bit over the top. The next morning, however, she saw that Hermione had been quite right to be so cautious; Umbridge had set forth a new "educational decree" proclaiming the illegality of all student groups. Sophie's mind was whirring, stirring up possibilities of who could have told, how Umbridge could have heard what they were up to…Sophie was so preoccupied with these thoughts, she hardly took note of an obnoxiously loud speech Malfoy was making as they waited outside their Potions' dungeon, but when his taunts became turned to Harry who was standing next to her, his words became difficult to block out.

"And as for Potter… my father says it's a matter of time before the Ministry has him carted off to St. Mungo's… apparently they've got a special ward for people whose brains have been addled by magic." Malfoy made a ridiculous face that made Sophie wish she had a camera with her, when suddenly a black blur whipped past her face that she only just realized was Neville streaking towards Malfoy. What-? Sophie wondered for a moment, then, realizing what Malfoy had said, she grimaced and stared at her feet while Harry and Ron grabbed at Neville to restrain him.

"Don't you-" gasped Neville in Harry and Ron's grip. "Mungo's-say that-I'll-"

Snape opened the classroom door at this most inopportune moment and took points from Gryffindor since Harry, Ron and Neville appeared to be fighting. The class filed in.

"What's with Longbottom?" Sophie heard Malfoy mutter to Crabbe and Goyle as she passed him on her way in. "Why's he-?"

"Don't you _know_?" she snapped at him, unable to contain herself.

Malfoy glanced up at her and frowned in puzzlement. "Know what?" he asked her.

Sophie ignored him and plunked herself down at one of the tables. To her dismay, her cousin followed her (he himself was followed obligingly by Crabbe and Goyle) and put his own belongings on the table beside hers. She did not look at him. "Know _what,_ Tonks?" he repeated.

Sophie did not deign to answer him, acting as though deaf to his voice and instead fixing her eyes straight ahead on their sallow-faced professor and the even more unpleasant short, squat and nauseatingly pink figure beyond him.

"You're _sure_ no one could have told her," confirmed Anthony as he, Sophie, Hermione and Sigmund bent their heads together under the pretense of studying in the back of Arithmancy.

"Not without it being very very obvious, no," said Hermione.

Sigmund shook his head thoughtfully. "Clearly she's gotten wind of what we're doing somehow; and she doesn't like it."

"No," agreed Sophie. "But we suspected she wouldn't. Anyways, the point is we're planning on continuing on, rules or not, are you two up for that?"

Sigmund nodded immediately; Anthony hesitated for a fraction of a second as he surveyed Hermione's determined expression. "Yes," he said. Sophie noticed his fingers reach up to touch the edge of his prefect's badge as he did so, only for a moment before dropping his hand.

Hermione nodded in approval. "Good. We're still trying to arrange a time and place to meet, so we'll let you know once we found one."

"Sigmund and I especially look forward to seeing the two of you at this meeting," said Sophie.

Sigmund grinned knowingly at her, but Hermione's brow was knit with confusion. "Why?"

"Because," Sophie said simply, "One feels a certain pleasure in watching prefects commit infractions."

Dobby the house-elf, having been freed from the tyranny of the Malfoys, was now employed under Dumbledore at Hogwarts and happened across Harry one evening when he told him, so said Harry, of a particular room in Hogwarts that was very secret and adapted itself to the needs of whoever needed it at the time. Dobby gave Harry instructions to it and these he, Sophie, Hermione and Ron passed to all the members of their group and arranged a time to meet there. So it was that one evening Sophie walked up and down in front of a particular stretch of wall with her three best friends, thinking to herself,

"Please become a place we can all meet to practice Defense Against the Dark Arts. Please become a place we can all meet to practice Defense Against the Dark Arts. Please become a place…"

After walking past the wall three times Sophie noticed a door appear in the wall. Harry opened it and their eyes fell upon the sight of a large room that first reminded Sophie of a library she had once seen because of its bookshelves and multitudes of cushions lining the floor. They entered and admired the room as the others arrived, all thoroughly impressed by their choice of location. Hermione seemed determined to run this meeting at least semi-formally, and so had them all elect Harry as their leader and choose a name for themselves. Ginny suggested Dumbledore's Army –the DA- which was chosen and which Sophie liked very much.

When Harry was finally allowed to begin teaching, he had them all pair up and begin to practice Disarming each other. Sophie partnered Sigmund and was pleased to see that the rest made no argument in following Harry's instruction. It made her swell with pride to see the confidence they all –even those who only knew Harry marginally well- placed in him. _And rightly so,_ she thought.

"Right," said Harry. "On the count of three, then-one, two, three-"

"_Expelliarmus!"_ shouted Sophie. Sigmund's wand flew out of his grasp. He grinned at her.

"Got me," he said.

"You let me. You've got to actually try," she said. "Or I'll get a new partner," she added playfully.

He laughed. "All right."

They continued trying to Disarm one another. Even when Sigmund was trying, Sophie still got him far more often than he succeeded in Disarming her, though Sophie tried to be gracious about this. She had very little trouble with Disarming –in fact, she had very little trouble with most Defense skills that had already been covered in class, but she was hoping that Harry would eventually teach them more advanced Defense –she particularly wanted to be able to cast a Patronus, as much to see what it would be as for the defensive aspect of it. She enjoyed talking and laughing with Sigmund as they practiced, and smiled as she saw Hermione and Ron trying to Disarm one another and also admired the progress Neville was making; she could see the visible determination on his face as he practiced with Dean and her throat tightened a little as she thought of the reason Neville might be so determined to do well at Defense. He was not unlike Harry in that regard, thought Sophie, as she gazed at him, his round face sweating beads of determination. And even more admirably so, in some way, since everyone knew of Harry's brush with the Dark Arts; Neville's was even more disturbing in some way, and his determination more noble since no one knew, apparently not even someone as connected as Malfoy, of his great loss…

"HA!" cried Sigmund in triumph. He waved Sophie's wand in the air in playful victory. "Caught you off guard there, I think."

Sophie blinked several times, returning her attention to Sigmund. "Good job," she congratulated him. "Give it here now, I need another shot."

Sigmund threw it back to her and she caught it, aiming it at him again, trying to focus on her boyfriend and not be distracted by the sight of Neville beyond.

**We're moving quite quickly now, as you can see. I've planned and written this so that the action sort of speeds up over the next two school years, then slows down again for Deathly Hallows which I am super psyched for. Thanks for reading and please remember to leave a review!**


	30. Permanent Damage

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement._

The morning they were to leave for Christmas holidays, Sophie and Hermione were called to Dumbledore's office. Their Headmaster informed them that Arthur Weasley had been injured while on duty for the Order, and that Harry and the Weasleys were staying at Grimmauld Place while Mr. Easley recovered in St. Mungo's.

Sophie and Hermione left the office, full of shock and concern, their holidays having started off with terrible news, to say the least. They finished packing their belongings and boarded the train, Sophie's mind whirling about how on earth Mr. Weasley had been injured.

Sophie realized, once she had returned home, that she had not been home for Christmas since her first year at Hogwarts. She enjoyed the familiar sense of cozy homy-ness in their house at the holidays. Mr. Tonks was off work and Dora had come home to spend time with Sophie and her parents for the holidays as well. It was when Dora first arrived that Sophie discovered more of what had happened to Harry and the Weasleys.

"Arthur Weasley was hurt while on duty for the Order," Dora explained to Sophie on the evening she arrived home. "And Harry saw it, somehow. In his sleep, I think. Anyway, he saw it while it was happening and told Dumbledore, so Dumbledore arranged for Arthur to be taken to St. Mungo's. Harry and the Weasleys left that night for Grimmauld Place; I think they're all going to be staying there with Sirius over Christmas."

"Is Mr. Weasley going to be OK?" asked Sophie.

Dora nodded. "They're saying he will be. He was attacked by You-Know-Who's snake."

Sophie winced. "But they think they can fix that?" She looked questioningly at her father who was hovering in the doorway.

Mr. Tonks replied, "They'll have to find an antidote to that particular snake's venom. Seeing as this is You-Know-Who's snake, I'd wager that it isn't ordinary venom they're dealing with. But if they can prevent him from losing too much blood and eventually find the proper antidote, he should be relatively all right. There's a possibility he'll need to take the antidote over a period of time, and I couldn't say whether or not he'll ever be exactly the same again, not having seen him myself, but seeing as they seem to have got him help in time, he make a decent recovery." He shook his head. "It's a miracle that Potter boy knew about the attack as it was happening, though. Otherwise Arthur Weasley'd almost surely be dead, I'd say."

"But why was Mr. Weasley near Voldemort's-" Dora and Mr. Tonks both winced. "-snake in the first place?" asked Sophie, who was more used to Harry having strange visions and dreams than her father or sister were.

Dora shrugged. "He was on Order business; I can't tell you what it was, sorry."

Sophie grimaced. She knew it wasn't Dora's fault she wasn't allowed to tell about what secret business the Order was working on, but it grated on her just the same to have her sister in the inner circle of knowledge, leaving her to stand on the outside, as usual. _At least I've got the DA_, she told herself silently. _Like the DA will ever do anything significant in the war. _They called themselves Dumbledore's Army, but that often felt like a consoling joke.

Sophie had not told either her parents or her sister about the DA; she had a feeling that, although her father and Dora might approve, her mother definitely would not. It was the Slytherin in her; the ambition Andromeda Tonks had to survive, that would not wish for her daughter to participate in an illegal group. And Sophie did not want to incur any more of her mother's disapproval than she could help.

_Happy Christmas, Sophie!_

_I hope your holidays are going well. It's all right over here. Mrs. Black is a bit cranky, but no one expected anything else; Sirius is definitely in high spirits and that helps. We've already been to see Dad, and he seems to be well; they're still trying to find him the right antidote, and once they do, they say he'll be good to come home. _

_I don't know if your sister mentioned anything to you (she escorted us to St. Mungo's –but I'm sure you already knew that), but the Order members mentioned something a bit worrying about Harry while they were with Dad in the hospital (we were all listening outside with Extendable Ears –don't tell Hermione). Harry's been avoiding everyone ever since and it'd be great if you could come by for a bit, if your parents let you. I'll understand though if they want you at home all through the holidays. If that's the case, I'll see you in the New Year!_

_Here's to 1996!_

_-Ginny_

Mr. and Mrs. Tonks hadn't minded Sophie going to Grimmauld Place for a day, so Dora took her via Side-Along Apparition one afternoon to the house.

"I think Remus will be here as well," said Dora to Sophie as they walked up the steps. "He was telling me he would be here for Christmas, when -well." Dora cleared her throat and broke off.

"When what?" asked Sophie.

"It's none of your business," Dora retorted. Sophie noticed a blush appear on her sister's cheeks as she spoke.

Sophie gazed curiously at her sister but didn't say anything more at the present, though a new thought in her mind was blossoming into fruition.

Ron and Ginny greeted Sophie in the hallway upon her arrival.

"Thank God," said Ginny, without so much as a preliminary 'hello.' "He's shut himself up in Buckbeak's room and won't even come out for meals. Hermione's going to be coming in a couple hours as well, and then we thought we'd all confront him together."

Sophie nodded serenely. "Sounds like a plan. Why don't you tell me exactly what happened while we wait for Hermione?"

Together Ron and Ginny explained how Mad-Eye had mentioned that Dumbledore might be thinking Voldemort had been possessing Harry when the snake attacked Mr. Weasley. Sophie was stunned for several moments after hearing this and her mind quickly flashed through this possibility. She found it incomprehensible to believe that Harry who had just been teaching them all in the DA was ever being possessed by Voldemort. But, with a slight hesitation, she turned to Ginny.

"Do _you_ think he's possessed?"

Ginny twisted her mouth and raised one shoulder in a shrug. "I don't know of a way to tell, other than when I was being possessed by You-Know-Who I couldn't remember where I had been for stretches of hours and hours. Only Harry could tell us that. I just wish he'd stop hiding!" she added in frustration.

Once Hermione arrived and had been brought up to date on the Harry-in-hiding situation, the four of them marched up the long flights of stairs. They had decided, since Harry had been all but ignoring Ron and Ginny, that Sophie and Hermione should be the ones to draw Harry out. They would go meet with Ron and Ginny in the bedroom Harry shared with Ron. Sophie and Hermione went to the room where Sirius kept Buckbeak and where Harry had taken refuge. Hermione was in the lead and reached the door first. She pounded hard on it.

"I know you're in there. Will you please come out? I want to talk to you," she called to him.

"Yeah," added Sophie. "Happy Christmas, Harry, I want to talk to you too."

The door opened and Harry appeared on the other side of it. Sophie didn't know what she had expected, but he looked quite normal, albeit unhappy and surprised.

"What are the two of you doing here? Hermione, I thought you were skiing with your mum and dad?"

"I'm just here for a visit," explained Sophie. "Dora's downstairs; I think we're just staying for dinner."

"And to tell the truth, skiing's not really my thing, so I've come here for Christmas. But don't tell Ron. I told him it's really good because he kept laughing so much.

Mum and Dad are a bit disappointed, but I've told them that everyone who is serious about the exams is staying at Hogwarts to study. They want me to do well, they'll understand."

It had only just struck Sophie as Hermione was talking and as she led them down to Ron and Ginny, that Hermione almost never saw her parents. Sophie racked her brains. Hermione had gone home for Christmas in her first year, stayed at school in her second, and in her third, and her fourth, just like Sophie had, and now she had abandoned her parents holiday this year as well. Sophie remembered Hermione borrowing Hedwig to send a letter to her parents telling them she was a prefect…_they must have been so proud of her_, thought Sophie. _Proud of a daughter who's part of a world they don't understand and can never join. Proud of a daughter they never see…_ but then an image of Sophie's own mother flashed through her mind and she thought sourly, _at least they're proud of her at any rate_.

Sophie dragged her thoughts back to the present situation and sat down in between Ron and Ginny on Ron's bed.

Hermione began, "How're you feeling?"

Harry answered mechanically, "Fine."

"I've never heard of a person shutting themselves away from everyone and refusing meals who was really 'fine,' " said Sophie. "We're not stupid, Harry. And you can talk to us, even if you can't talk to anyone else."

Harry snorted. "These two haven't even looked at me since we came back."

"_You_ won't look at any of us!" exclaimed Ginny.

Hermione said, "Maybe you're taking it in turns to look, and keep missing each other."

Harry turned towards the window to the outside. "Very funny…All been talking about me, have you? Well, I'm getting used to it."

"If you won't let people talk _to_ you," began Sophie

"I didn't _want _anyone to talk to me," snapped Harry.

Ginny flared up. "Well, that was a bit stupid of you, seeing as you don't know anyone but me who's been possessed by You-Know-Who, and I can tell you how it feels."

There were a few moments of ringing silence after this, then Harry turned around and apologized.

"So…" he asked, visibly anxious, "So, do you think I'm being possessed, then?"

Ginny replied, "Well, can you remember everything you've been doing? Are there big blank periods where you don't know what you've been up to?"

"No," Harry said.

"Then You-Know-Who hasn't ever possessed you. When he did it to me, I couldn't remember what I'd been doing for hours at a time. I'd find myself somewhere and not know how I got there."

Harry was not convinced. "That dream I had about your dad and the snake, though —"

"Harry," interrupted Hermione. "You've had these dreams before. You had flashes of what Voldemort was up to last year."

Harry shook his head. "This was different. I was inside that snake. It was like I _was_ the snake… what if Voldemort somehow transported me to London —?"

"Harry!" Sophie rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"One day you'll read Hogwarts: A History," said Hermione. "And perhaps it will remind you that you can't Apparate or Disapparate inside Hogwarts. Even Voldemort couldn't just make you fly out of your dormitory, Harry."

Ron added, "You didn't leave your bed, mate. I saw you thrashing around in your sleep for at least a minute before we could wake you up."

"OK?" Sophie asked him.

An involuntary grin seemed to spread over Harry's face as he grabbed a sandwich and took a bite. "OK," he confirmed.

Mr. and Mrs. Tonks allowed Sophie to visit Grimmauld Place once more over the holidays for Christmas day. When Sophie arrived and had exchanged "Happy Christmases" with those she came across, she found Hermione with Harry and Ron carrying…

"It's Kreacher's Christmas present," Hermione explained to Sophie as the four of them trooped down to the kitchen where Kreacher had his own cupboard-like room. "I got him a blanket."

"I don't think Kreacher celebrates Christmas, Hermione," teased Sophie. "He probably doesn't believe in the exchange of gifts either."

Harry and Ron chuckled appreciatively while Hermione made a face at Sophie. They passed Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen and Sophie noticed she had been crying –no doubt the holidays reminded her of Percy's estrangement from the rest of the family, Sophie surmised.

They found the cupboard-like cavity off the kitchen.

"So, is this Kreacher's bedroom?" Ron asked.

"Yes. Er… I think we'd better knock," said Hermione uncertainly.

Ron did so, but there was no reply. "He must be sneaking around upstairs. Urgh!" Ron had opened the cupboard door.

Sophie bent over and gazed around inside; it was a pretty measly, miserable place, with lots of rags and bits of old food. These were not, however, what made Sophie's stomach turn over as she glanced around. The cause of her discomfort was some photographs that Sirius had undoubtedly tried to dispose of. One was of Narcissa Malfoy as a young girl, and the other (this was the one that Sophie felt sick at the sight of) was of Bellatrix Lestrange, looking just as beautiful as Sophie had seen her in the Pensieve, looking like her mother, looking like…her (she silently prayed the others wouldn't cotton on to this). Kreacher had mended her glass with Spellotape and seemed to be very fond of the picture. It was, Sophie conceded, a very lovely photograph. She wondered, as she stared into the eyes beneath the heavy lids, had this Bella already joined the Death Eaters, had she already been taken by the ideology being professed by Voldemort, was she already madly in love with the man behind all the mass Muggle killings that were taking place? She flinched slightly and Hermione laid her present down for Kreacher to find.

Sirius entered the room. "Come to think of it, has anyone actually seen Kreacher lately?"

Harry answered, "I haven't seen him since the night we came back here," said Harry. "You were ordering him out of the kitchen."

"Yeah…You know, I think that's the last time I saw him, too…" Sirius thought for a moment. "He must be hiding upstairs somewhere."

"He couldn't have left, could he? I mean, when you said 'out', maybe he thought you meant get out of the house?" Harry questioned.

"No, no," assured Sirius. "House-elves can't leave unless they're given clothes. They're tied to their family's house."

"They can leave the house if they really want to. Dobby did, he left the Malfoys' to give me warnings two years ago," Harry insisted. "He had to punish himself afterwards, but he still managed it."

Sirius hesitated, then shrugged. "I'll look for him later, I expect I'll find him upstairs crying his eyes out over my mother's old bloomers or something. Of course, he might have crawled into the airing cupboard and died… but I mustn't get my hopes up."

Sophie glanced back at the little cupboard where Kreacher lived and, like Hermione, did not join in on the laughter.

Later that day Sophie went with the Weasleys and other assorted Order members to St. Mungo's to visit Mr. Weasley. She was very relieved to see that he seemed to be doing quite well and was definitely in high spirits. However, when Mrs. Weasley seemed to be getting very angry about a Muggle medicine Mr. Weasley had tried, Sophie, Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ginny decided to make themselves scarce and travel up to the fifth floor for the tea shop. Unfortunately they mistook the floor number and ran into-

"Professor Lockhart!" cried Hermione.

Sophie stopped dead and reeled in shock. It had never occurred to her that Lockhart would be here (in fact, he hardly occurred to her at all these days), but now she realized that of course he would have been in St. Mungo's. She wondered if he remembered…

He called to them cheerily. "Well, hello there! I expect you'd like my autograph, would you?"

"Er," said Ron awkwardly. "How are you, Professor?"

"I'm very well indeed, thank you! Now, how many autographs would you like? I can do joined-up writing now, you know!"

"Dear God," muttered Sophie as Lockhart pulled out a flamboyant quill.

"Professor, should you be wandering around the corridors?" asked Harry. "Shouldn't you be in a ward?"

"Haven't we met?" asked Lockhart, after staring at Harry.

"Oh no," said Sophie in an undertone to Ron.

After being told that he used to be their professor (information which Sophie personally thought ought to be withheld from him), Lockhart was still set on giving them each a multitude of his own autographs and invited them into his ward, which they obligingly followed him into.

This ward –for those suffering from permanent spell damage- was much more dreary than the one Mr. Weasley was in. It had the air of a much more miserable place, one in which its inhabitants were destined to their beds and this grey room with no hope of ever leaving and returning to their previous lives.

The Healer of that ward was going around, speaking to each patient. She gave a strange plant to one Broderick Bode saying it had been sent as a Christmas gift. Sophie thought the plant seemed oddly familiar, but before she could place where she had seen it before, the Healer called out:

"Oh, Mrs. Longbottom, are you leaving already?"

_Oh, _no, thought Sophie. _Oh no, oh no, oh no…_

She glanced up and then quickly looked away, her glance confirming what she had known from hearing the name "Longbottom": Neville and a woman she took to be his grandmother standing near two beds near the end of the ward.

"Neville! It's us, Neville! Have you seen -? Lockhart's here!" exclaimed Ron, with (Sophie thought) indecent enthusiasm, even for one who did not know about Neville's parents. "Who've you been visiting?"

"Shut _up_, Ron," hissed Sophie miserably as Neville and his grandmother approached. Ron looked at her in confusion.

"Friends of yours, Neville, dear?" Mrs. Longbottom took in Harry with a sharp glance. "Ah, yes. Yes, yes, I know who you are, of course. Neville speaks most highly of you…And you two are clearly Weasleys. Yes, I know your parents — not well, of course — but fine people, fine people…And you," Sophie felt Mrs. Longbottom's gaze fall upon her and her stomach turned over as she raised her eyes, wary and nervous. "You're Healer Tonks' daughter, aren't you?"

Sophie gave a brief nod. "Yes," she said, quietly, as Mrs. Longbottom shook her hand. Sophie returned her gaze to the tips of her shoes.

"I've seen him around here several times. A lovely man. And you must be Hermione Granger? Yes, Neville's told me all about you. Helped him out of a few sticky spots, haven't you? He's a good boy but he hasn't got his father's talent, I'm afraid to say."

"What? Is that your dad down the end, Neville?" asked Ron. Sophie did not look up,

"What's this? Haven't you told your friends about your parents, Neville? Well, it's nothing to be ashamed of! You should be proud, Neville, proud! They didn't give their health and their sanity so their only son would be ashamed of them, you know!"

_Oh, _Neville. Sophie fought the impulse to bury her face in her hands and continued to examine her feet.

Neville's voice was barely audible. "I'm not ashamed."

"Well, you've got a funny way of showing it! My son and his wife were tortured into insanity by You- Know-Who's followers," said Mrs. Longbottom bluntly.

Sophie heard Hermione give a small gasp and she could not bring herself to meet Mrs. Longbottom's eyes.

"They were Aurors, you know, and very well respected within the wizarding community. Highly gifted, the pair of them. I - yes, Alice dear, what is it?"

Sophie looked up and saw Alice Longbottom, a withered-looking woman, one hand outstretched towards Neville, the other beckoning him to her tentatively. She gave him what Sophie recognized as an empty Drooble's Best Blowing Gum wrapper.

"Thanks, Mum," said Neville quietly, and Sophie now found she could not look away as Alice Longbottom pattered away back to her place, humming nonsensically. Sophie felt as though something very large was stuck in her throat and she couldn't swallow properly.

Neville left with his grandmother shortly thereafter. Sophie exchanged a glance with Harry and saw her own misery mirrored on his face, and she knew what they both were feeling should not even be compared to what Neville must go through.

Hermione spoke first, "I never knew."

"Nor did I," Ron seemed extremely remorseful over his previous enthusiasm.

Ginny added, "Nor me."

Harry admitted, "I did. Dumbledore told me but I promised I wouldn't tell anyone…" his voice trailed off as he looked at Sophie and Sophie felt the eyes of the other three on her as well.

She turned away from them, took a deep breath and spoke to the wall behind her. "That's why Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange went to Azkaban. They and Rodolphus' brother and Barty Crouch Jr. used the Cruciatus Curse on the Longbottoms after Voldemort fell; they thought the Longbottoms could give them information. Bellatrix Lestrange was –_is_ my mother's sister."

Hermione spoke in a hushed voice, "Bellatrix Lestrange did that? That woman who looks like y- I mean, that Kreacher's got a photo of in his den?"

"Yes," said Sophie, turning around and facing the others, her chest heavy with misery and shame. "That's the one."

"Kreacher the house-elf," croaked Kreacher, bowing low so that the tip of his nose nearly touched the rich carpet of Malfoy Manor. "Servant to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, come to serve Miss Cissy."

Narcissa Malfoy was astonished to see the elf; she hadn't thought of him in ages..

"Don't you belong to Sirius now?" she asked him, not unkindly. "Did he send you here?"

Something resembling a smile twisted its way around Kreacher' wrinkled mouth. "No, Miss Cissy," he explained gleefully. "Master Sirius is telling Kreacher to 'get out,' and Kreacher is getting out! Master Sirius is not telling Kreacher where to go, so Kreacher comes to Miss Cissy, who Kreacher remembers as a shining example of the honoured and pure heritage of the house of Black." And Kreacher bowed low again.

Narcissa thought quickly. "Wait here, Kreacher." She hurried away, down the expansive corridor to the dining room where she knew Lucius would be. If what Kreacher said was true, this could be the opportunity they had been waiting for…

Lucius was sitting at the head of the dining room table, the Daily Prophet open before him. Draco was also there finishing his breakfast.

"Draco," said Narcissa, approaching him and kissing the top of his head. "Could you leave your father and me for a few minutes? We need to discuss something."

Lucius put down his paper and Draco wrinkled his mouth. Narcissa knew her son hated being excluded from discussions like this, but being only a child, it was unthinkable that he should be put at risk by knowing about Death Eater business. She was glad when he went, albeit grudgingly.

Lucius looked up at his wife expectantly. "What is it, Cissy?"

Narcissa quickly explained to him in a hushed voice about Kreacher's sudden appearance and declaration. She saw her husband's eyes gleam and knew that the same thought had struck them both.

"You understand what this means?" she asked him in confirmation. "If the elf can give us information on the Order or on Harry Potter, information the Dark Lord can use to successfully retrieve the prophecy-"

Lucius stood and nodded. "It could be just what is needed…the Dark Lord will be very happy if it is through me he receives such valuable information…perhaps happy enough to forget his anger over my desertion and the handling of the diary…" he did not finish his sentence, unwilling to remember the terrible affair of the Dark Lord discovering that the diary was in ruins.

Narcissa nodded excitedly. "Come with me," she said, and her husband followed her out of the room to where Kreacher stood, waiting obediently.


	31. Powerful

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement._

It was an icy morning in mid-January with frost settled over the grass. The sky was a bleak grey and stretched over the West Midlands' countryside with an eery stillness. It was on this morning that a barn owl swooped down over a cozy home and landed on the windowsill.

Andromeda Tonks put a Knut into the pouch tied to the owl's leg and took the paper from it mechanically, dropping it on the table as she went to prepare the morning tea. She inhaled the therapeutic and calming aroma of the brewing tea and handed her husband a cup as he entered the kitchen dressed for work, kissing him as she did so.

Andromeda returned to the kitchen table and picked up the _Daily Prophet_. She took one look at the cover, uttered a muffled scream and ran from the room, spilling tea everywhere as she went.

Ted Tonks called after her in confusion, but she did not answer. He leant over and straightened the newspaper so that he could see the cover and found himself staring into a face he remembered well.

Sophie sat on her bed with her knees hugged up to her chin. _The Daily Prophet_ was on the floor next to the bed, half underneath it. The only portion visible was a small article about Ministry worker Broderick Bode being strangled to death by Devil's Snare in St. Mongo's Although Sophie could not see the paper from her perch she was sharply aware of its presence nonetheless.

The dormitory door opened and Hermione walked in. "Thanks for letting me use Alazne."

"It was no problem," said Sophie.

Hermione crossed the room and sat across from Sophie on the bed. "I sent a letter to Rita Skeeter," she said.

This piqued Sophie's interest slightly. "What for?"

"To ask her to meet me next Hogsmeade trip in order to interview Harry about what really happened the night Voldemort came back. I think it's time Harry was given a chance to tell the public the truth, and I think he'll find more people receptive now since the _Prophet_ has run such an inadequate story on how these Death Eaters were able to escape. Not everyone will believe Sirius was able to cause a mass breakout –it's too ridiculous."

Sophie nodded. "And she'll have to do the interview won't she, because you know she's an illegal Animagus…what a wicked blackmailer I have for a best friend," said Sophie. She meant to say this teasingly, but she couldn't help swallowing hard and hugging her knees closer to her chest.

"Come on," said Hermione. "We have class in ten minutes; let's get our things."

Sophie didn't move. "You go," she said softly.

"_And_ you," insisted Hermione. "Look, Sophie, everyone feels exposed now; there's loads of people here with connections to those Death Eaters-"

"_No_, Hermione," said Sophie forcefully. "_No_. There's loads of people here with connections to the _victims_ of those Death Eaters, and it's hard for _them_ to be singled out. They have to go through what Harry does all the time, and now people will be talking about Neville because of his parents and Susan Bones because of her family, and some people might know that Gideon and Fabian Prewett were Ron and Ginny and Fred and George's uncles and then people will talk about them too. I know. I know. I know. I _know_. But none of them have "psychotic torturing criminal" written all over _their_ face."

"Sophie-" began Hermione.

"No one knew before!" Sophie burst out. "We don't have the same last name and none of the kids here ever knew, but now they've all seen-" she gestured helplessly at the area she knew the paper had fallen to on the floor.

Hermione didn't say anything, but walked around the bed and picked up the paper. She gazed at it for a few seconds, then walked around to the fireplace and fed it to the flames.

"That doesn't take it away," said Sophie loudly.

"I know," said Hermione, straightening up and gazing directly at her best friend. "I know it doesn't. But I know the only thing that can, or at least help to."

Sophie raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"You going down and showing that _you don't care_. Not that it doesn't _exist_, but that it does, that sometimes people's families suck and that your genes don't dictate who you are. That you get to _choose_, and you choose to be Sophie," she paused, then continued. "You're a very popular, likeable girl here, Soph. They already love Sophie. Just be her." Hermione picked up her school bag. "I'll see you in Arithmancy in five minutes."

As the bell rang, Sophie slid into her seat beside Hermione in Arithmancy. Hermione gave her an approving smile and nod as she sat down. "Glad to see you," she told her.

Hermione had arranged to meet with Luna Lovegood and Harry in the Three Broomsticks on Valentine's Day to do the interview for _The Quibbler _with Rita Skeeter. Luna's father was the editor of _the Quibbler_ and had agreed to print Harry's interview.

Sophie and Sigmund wandered through Honeydukes on Valentine's Day. Try as she might to focus on her date with Sigmund, Sophie couldn't seem to help her mind from wandering to Hermione, Luna, Harry and Rita Skeeter in the Three Broomsticks, Harry recounting the night he'd seen Voldemort return. She and Sigmund happened across Parvati and Lavender while in Honeydukes and the four of them spoke in low voices about the progress of their DA meetings.

"I can't wait to get on to Patronuses either," whispered Lavender, nodding in agreement with Sophie as they pretended to look over the newest flavours of fudge.

Parvati sighed. "I want to do those too, but I can't even seem to be able to do the Reductor curse properly most of the time –I know I did well once, but I think that was a complete accident…"

Sigmund smiled at her. "I've noticed you doing that, and if you don't mind my saying so, I think your focus might be off slightly. You might be able to get it more if you tilted your wand…" his voice trailed away as he and Parvati moved off towards the other end of the fudge display, leaving Sophie and Lavender alone to debate whether pumpkin-coconut sounded like a better flavour for fudge than banana-jam.

After a while they decided to call it a day and return to school. Sigmund caught up with Sophie and walked with her as they returned to Hogwarts.

"Sorry we didn't talk much," he apologized. "Parvati just had lots of questions about stuff we've been doing in the DA."

"It's totally fine,": she told him, and they walked in silence for quite a while.

"Well, er…" said Sigmund once they had arrived at the castle. "I guess I'll see you. Happy Valentine's Day, Sophie." He leaned forwards slightly as if to kiss her, but Sophie quickly stepped backwards.

"Happy Valentine's, Sigmund," she said. He gave her a small half-smile and they went their separate ways.

Umbridge was seething when Harry's interview appeared in the _Quibbler. _She banned the magazine altogether, but the majority of the students and teachers were clearly in support of Harry's declaration. It made Sophie feel so proud of Harry (and she told him so). It was like a small fire of resistance had been lit; Hermione pointed out to her that they had already done this with the DA.

"But this is different," insisted Sophie happily. "Now everyone will _know_." Sophie had been feeling incalculably frustrated at the way the Ministry was allowing Voldemort and the Death Eaters to operate underground; to see the likes of Lucius Malfoy and other respected figure openly called out as Death Eaters in a magazine gave Sophie a surge of pleasure, knowing that it would grate on Voldemort and his other followers to see the truth being thrown into the light. They had to know it was only time before they were discovered…

Harry was continuing to have upsetting dreams where he gained insight from Voldemort's mind. This time, as he related to Sophie and Hermione one day in the courtyard, he had seen Voldemort torturing the recently-escaped Death Eater, Augusts Rookwood for information on retrieving something from the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry. Suddenly it became apparent to them for the reason Bode had been killed via Devil's Snare –he'd probably been Imperiused to retrieve what they assumed to be the secret weapon from the Department of Mysteries but had been damaged by whatever defences were protecting the weapon. Hermione was angry that Harry had seen this at all; Harry was supposed to be learning Occlumency from Snape in order to protect his mind from infiltration, but it did not seem to be working and Harry only seemed frustrated and upset whenever Hermione brought the subject up.

They did eventually move on to Patronuses in the DA. Harry explained to them how they had to think of something really really happy, one of their happiest memories in order to produce a patronus. Sophie tried many times, sifting through her memories, trying to find one suitable. She thought of receiving her Hogwarts letter, of getting her wand, of winning the House Cup, of seeing a restored Hermione after being Petrified, of the thrill in her stomach when Sigmund had asked her to the Yule Ball...these produced only whisps of silver vapour, nothing that, in Susan Bones' words, was "corporeal."

Sighing, Sophie paused for a few moments and tried to re-focus, attempting to ignore the cries of "_Expecto Patronum!_" that were echoing all around the room and the slightly misty atmosphere resulting from patronuses in various forms and stages of corporeal-ness. It seemed that the more she thought, the more her mind landed on thoughts that were unhappy: the recent escaped Death Eaters, Cedric's death, Voldemort's return, pain in her mother's face...

Sophie had it. She focused hard and re-imagine the scene in her mind...

"_Expecto Patronum!"_

It blossomed from the tip of her rowan wand, first the head, then the broad wings and feathered body: Sophie's raven fuelled by her memory of learning of Sirius' innocence. Sirius, who to her meant she could have the freedom to choose for good, had dashed all the expectations in place for him.

The raven soared around the room, and as it reached the entrance where Sophie saw the door to the Room open and Dobby enter. He went immediately to Harry and the attention of all present turned to them.

"Harry Potter…" squeaked the elf. "She…she…"

"Umbridge?" asked Harry as fear and concern swept over his face. "What about her? Dobby- she hasn't found out about this –about us- about the DA?...Is she coming?"

"Yes!" Dobby cried. "Harry Potter, yes!"

"What are you waiting for? RUN!" Harry cried to the room at large.

There was a mad rush for the door. Sophie felt people whip past her and her feet were trodden upon as she stood immobile for a moment, then she too raced to the exit and started down the corridor as DA members scattered in all directions.

She was alone and hadn't gone twenty paces when another figure rounded the corner and almost crashed into her, wand raised. It was Tracey.

Tracey stopped abruptly and backed up a few steps, and though she aimed her wand at Sophie, she seemed unsure of what to do. Sophie raised an eyebrow.

"Well, go on then. Turn me in. That's what you're here to do, isn't it?"

Tracey met Sophie's eyes for a moment, then turned on her heel and ran in the opposite direction, leaving Sophie as quickly as she had come to her.

The next morning amid the news that Umbridge had somehow been made their new headmistress, Harry related to Sophie, Hermione and Ron what had happened the evening previous. Marietta Edgecombe, a friend of Harry's (now somewhat former, Sophie gathered) girlfriend Cho Chang had told Umbridge of their latest meeting and Harry had been caught and dragged to Dumbledore's office where Dumb himself had taken responsibility for the DA, then single handedly escaped Fudge, Umbridge, Kingsley Shacklebolt and John Dawlish (the latter two both Aurors that Sophie had heard Dora speak of; Kingsley was, in fact, a member of the Order). He was now wanted by the Ministry and was presumably in hiding somewhere.

Sophie felt as though her entire fifth year was a nightmare that kept getting steadily worse. The best that could be said or the situation (and Sophie, like most of the rest of the school, really did find this bit quite delicious) was the almost complete unity in which the staff and student body thumbed their noses at Umbridge; the latter causing as much trouble and ruckus as they could, the former not lifting a finger to aide their new head. Nearly every time Sophie saw Umbridge she looked exhausted, upset and harassed. It was a pleasant sight; Sophie did not particularly mind if people who thought it was OK to slice students' body parts open had difficult lives.

There were of course, some very nasty side-effects of Umbridge's reign, one of which Sophie was introduced to via an unfortunate encounter with Draco Malfoy while she, Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ernie Macmillan were returning from an Herbology lesson:

Hermione's lip curled as they discussed Umbridge as headmistress. "I expect she really fancied herself sitting up there in the Heads office. Lording it over all the other teachers, the stupid puffed-up, power-crazy old -"

Malfoy stepped out in front of them, blocking their way. "Now, do you really want to finish that sentence, Granger? Afraid I'm going to have to dock a few points from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff."

"You can't take points from fellow prefects, Malfoy," Ernie admonished.

Malfoy pulled a smug face. "I know _prefects_ can't dock points from each other. But members of the Inquisitorial Squad -"

Hermione interrupted, "The what?"

"The Inquisitorial Squad, Granger. A select group of students who are supportive of the Ministry of Magic, hand-picked by Professor Umbridge. Anyway, members of the Inquisitorial Squad do have the power to dock points… so, Granger, I'll have five from you for being rude about our new Headmistress. Macmillan, five for contradicting me. Five because I don't like you, Tonks. Five because your hair's messy, Potter. Weasley, your shirts untucked, so I'll have another five for that. Oh yeah, I forgot, you're a Mudblood, Granger, so ten off for that."

The absurdity of this was laughable. Apart from this last deduction being utterly bigoted, the fact was that Ron, like all other Hogwarts students, was wearing his black robed uniform of which a shirt had no part, much less anything to tuck a shirt into. Malfoy may as well have docked Ron for forgetting his balaclava.

Although events such as this constantly reinforced the idea to Sophie that she was living in a freakish dream world, reality seemed to be ironically impending upon her with indecent brazenness. She found more and more of her hours being eaten up through studying, often collaboratively with Hermione, for their OWLs. Sigmund was also preparing to take his NEWTs, making it nearly impossible for them to spend much time together. Additionally, all fifth years had to meet with their Head of House to discuss their potential future careers. Sophie had fortunately given this some thought as a result of a conversation she, Hermione, Harry and Ron had had earlier in the year:

"D'you know what you want to do?" Harry had asked. "After Hogwarts?"

Ron answered first. "'Not really. Except...well...It'd be cool to be an Auror."

Harry heartily agreed, but Ron seemed almost to backpedal, then turned to Sophie. "Would you like to be an Auror?"

"My sister's an Auror," Sophie replied.

"So?" asked Harry. Sophie shrugged.

"I just wouldn't want to do the same thing she's done, to be the same as her...You get it, don't you?" she appealed to Ron. He nodded though neither Harry nor Hermione looked convinced.

"I think you'd make a good Auror, Sophie," Hermione told her.

Sophie shook her head. "No way," she replied.

It was bearing this in mind that Sophie arrived at her appointed meeting with Professor McGonagall.

"Good morning, Miss Tonks," Professor McGonagall greeted her. "Sit down. This meeting is, as I'm sure you're aware, to help you decide what subjects you may want to consider studying in your NEWT level in order to prepare for your chosen career after leaving Hogwarts. What sort of career were you envisioning yourself pursuing after school?"

"Um, I was thinking of Healing," said Sophie, voicing something she had been thinking about now for months. She folded her hands awkwardly.

Professor McGonagall nodded and pulled out a leaflet Sophie had been looking at earlier. "As I am sure you can imagine, Miss Tonks, Healers, being entrusted with the health of the wizarding community, require a very high academic standing and must pursue further studies in wizarding medicine after school. Those aspiring to be Healers must study Potions, Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration and Charms at the NEWT level in order to be well-equipped to cope with various issues in wizarding illness and injury that may crop up. After Hogwarts, those studying to be Healers usually focus their studies to specialize in a par field and then typically go on to become Healers-in-Training at St. Mungo's, or work alongside mediwizards and witches in separate institutions. _Your _grades, Miss Tonks," she continued. "Have been moderately high." She gazed piercingly at Sophie over the tops of her glasses. "Although I have often thought you do not always put in your best efforts, in my class at least. I would suggest working harder from now on, and the I have every confidence that you will be able to acheive the necessary OWL grades."

Sophie nodded. "OK," she said, taking the meeting to be over and standing up to leave. Professor McGonagall raised here eyebrows.

"Is there anything else, Miss Tonks? I notice in your academic records that you excel in Defence Against the Dark Arts in particular, and I know you have seen your sister working successfully as an Auror. Perhaps you would like to consider-"

"No," Sophie replied quickly. "No, Professor, I'm quite sure I don't want to be an Auror." Bidding Professor McGonagall goodbye she dashed out of the room.

**Posting this chapter was a disaster…I had been working on it last summer and then last week I realized half of it was missing, and I was about to rewrite the whole thing when I found it in Google Docs…*facepalm* **

**Anyways…if you caught the correction with Malfoy taking points you win…my admiration (which isn't fair as it's only something you can catch if you have one of the original copies of OotP).**

**Hope you're all enjoying the holidays…and this story…**


	32. Crucial Tests

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement._

Time raced around like a wheel gone out of control, and Sophie was writing her OWLs before she knew it. Sophie was not the type to get very nervous or feel sick before a test, which was a good thing in many ways; had she been the sort of girl who did, Hermione's antics may have deprived Sophie of her sanity. As it was, Sophie kept a cool head on nearly all of her exams, and entered her last one (History of Magic) almost with a sense of relief. She knew she had a good handle on the History of Magic notes and felt very glad to know that in several hours' time, her OWLs would be behind her forever.

They were all seated alphabetically to write their exam, and Sophie sometimes felt her eyes boring into the back of Dean Thomas' head as she paused to consider her next answer, the resumed scratching her quill across the parchment surface. She was somewhere in the middle of her exam when, out of the expansive silence in the Great Hall, someone started yelling madly. Startled, Sophie leaned out over the side of her desk to look ahead and saw Harry, fallen out of his desk and screaming on the floor whilst clutching his scar. People all around had abandoned their papers and were talking and pointing at Harry. Filled with concern and half-forgetting they were in the middle of an exam, Sophie stood up and almost went to Harry, when one of the ancient examiners ran forwards to Harry himself.

"Quiet everyone!" he yelled to the rest of the room. "Quiet! Return to your seats, please! This is an examination!" He bent over and pulled a struggling Harry up off the ground (he seemed to be just returning to his normal state, at least, he had stopped screaming, though he was still holding his head in his hands. The examiner supported him out of the room.

The room eventually returned to its previous silence, though the atmosphere had changed palpably. Sophie tried for a couple minutes to return to her paper's questions, but soon realized this was impossible: she was too worried about Harry. She abandoned the exam, placing her quill down on her desk. She glanced over at Hermione, whose head was still bent over her paper, her quill still writing. Sophie supposed she should not have expected anything else. She did not know Hermione's career plans completely, but maybe History of Magic was important enough too them that she would push through the exam. Sophie didn't need or care about the subject. She turned and glanced backwards over the bent head of one Lisa Turpin between them and met Ron's eyes. He too seemed too distracted to continue the exam, and she saw her own fear and panic mirrored in Ron's face.

The moment the examiner declared the exam to be over, Sophie bolted out of her seat and raced outside the Great Hall, Ron at her heels. They had to wait a couple minutes for Hermione (_"_The exam's _over_!" Ron said. "What can she possibly be doing?"), who finally arrived.

"Harry-" she started.

"We know," the other two responded in unison and the three of them raced off up the marble staircase without really any idea of where they would find Harry. Fortunately they did not have to look far as he appeared himself at the top of the staircase they were ascending.

"What is it, Harry?" Sophie called to him as they ran to meet him.

"What happened?" asked Hermione. "Are you all right? Are you ill?"

Ron interjected, "Where have you been?"

"Come with me. Come on," said Harry. "I've got to tell you something." Bewildered, Sophie, Hermione and Ron followed Harry into an empty classroom nearby. Harry hustled them in, closing the door behind them and turning to them, blurting out:

"Voldemort's got Sirius."

_"What?_" Sophie, Hermione ad Ron exclaimed simultaenuosly.

"How d'you -?" began Ron, but Harry interrupted him.

"Saw it. Just now. When I fell asleep in the exam."

"But-" stuttered Hermione, exchanging a panicked glance with Sophie. "But where? How?"

Harry shook his head. "I dunno how. But I know exactly where. There's a room in the Department of Mysteries full of shelves covered in these little glass balls and they're at the end of row ninety-seven…he's trying to use Sirius to get whatever it is he wants from in there… he's torturing him… says he'll end by killing him! How're we going to get there?"

Sophie's mind was reeling from Harry's words and it was taking her mind a while to fully comprehend him. She did not understand the full implication of his words until Ron stammered, "G-get there?"

"Get to the Department of Mysteries, so we can rescue Sirius!" shouted Harry.

"Harry," said Sophie. "That's insane."

Harry rounded angrily on her, but Hermione interjected, "Harry...how… how did Voldemort get into the Ministry of Magic without anybody realizing he was there?"

"How do I know? The question is how we're going to get in there!"

Hermione tried to reason with Harry, to show him the near-impossibility of Voldemort having Sirius in the Department of Mysteries, but Harry, convinced of he was of the reality of his visions, would not listen to her. Ron seemed to think there was a possibility that Voldemort thought Sirius would be useful in retrieving the desired object from the Department of Mysteries, that Sirius, fed up with having to stay inside Grimmauld Place all the time, might have stepped outside...

Sophie sighed and closed her eyes momentarily before speaking, "Look, I'm not saying Sirius has or hasn't been captured, but Harry, _we_ can't go dashing off to the Ministry to save him. _No, _Harry," she said as he opened his mouth angrily to retort back. "Voldemort wants _you_ more than anyone else. You can't just run to him like-"

"It doesn't matter if he's done it to get me there or not!" yelled Harry. "They've taken McGonagall to St. Mungo's, there isn't anyone from the Order left at Hogwarts who we can tell, and if we don't go, Sirius is dead!" Sophie considered this for a moment while Hermione spoke up:

"But Harry - what if your dream was - was just that, a dream?"

"Aaargh! You don't get it! I'm not having nightmares, I'm not just dream-"

"Snape!" exclaimed Sophie. The other three looked round at her, bewildered. "Snape," she repeated. "The only Order member left at Hogwarts. We have to tell him."

Hermione's face lit up, whereas Ron looked uncertain and Harry's twisted in consternation. "Yes," said Hermione. "Sophie's right."

"Snape doesn't care about Sirius," said Harry.

"Look, I'm sorry," replied Sophie. "Snape wouldn't be my first choice either, but we don't have any options. How do you think you're going to get to the Department-"

She was cut off by the arrival of Ginny and Luna.

"Hi. We recognized Harry's voice," said Ginny. "What are you yelling about?"

Harry responded rather aggressively. "Never you mind."

"_Well_?" asked Sophie.

"Umbridge's fire," said Harry. "It's the only fireplace here that's connected to the Floo Network."

"Harry, please,' Hermione pleaded. "Please, Sophie's right: we need to tell Snape."

Harry seemed to deliberate for a second, the shook his head. "I can't," he said. He turned to Ron, Ginny and Luna. "Look, can you lot help me get into Umbridge's office?"

"Harry!" cried Hermione. Sophie didn't hear anything else; she had already opened the door to the classroom and headed out to find Snape.

She walked briskly, not pausing to apologize as she bumped into people. She initially was heading for the dungeons, then, after getting partway down, she realized that it was actually closer to dinnertime and Snape would be more likely to be found in the Great Hall. Cursing herself for her time-costly error, Sophie turned and raced back up the steps. She had just entered the Entrance Hall when, by a stroke of coincidence, Snape himself was just walking out of the Great Hall.

"Professor!" she cried, running up to him. "Professor, please, I- I need to speak to you, um, in private."

Snape raised his eyebrows. "I am rather busy and do not wish to be troubled at the moment, Miss Tonks." He started to continue walking.

"No! Please," exclaimed Sophie. "Professor, it's about the -the Order of the Phoen-"

Snape let out a hiss-like noise, seized Sophie's arm and wheeled her into the nearest empty classroom, shutting the door behind them, and casting a silent spell over it as he did so. He turned to her.

"You foolish girl. What were you thinking to say such a thing under the present circumstances?"

"I'm sorry, Professor, but this is urgent. You see," she took a breath. "Harry Potter's just seen another vision, like the one he had about Mr. Weasley and the snake, but this time he says that he saw Voldemort torturing Sirius in -in the Department of Mysteries, and now Harry thinks he needs to go to the Department to save Sirius, so I – I knew I needed to tell someone in the Order, so -so now I've told you."

Sophie looked at Snape expectantly. His mouth tightened and his eyebrows were raised. "How does Potter expect to be able to travel to the Department of Mysteries?"

"He said he was going to try and use the Floo connection in Umbridge's office-" said Sophie. She had hardly finished speaking when Snape turned on his heel and departed the classroom. Sophie followed him as closely as she could without getting caught in the billowing blackness of his robes.

They had just rounded a corner on the way to Umbridge's office when they saw pale form of Draco Malfoy hurrying up the corridor towards them.

"Oh, Professor," said Malfoy, looking surprised, particularly as his grey eyes moved from Snape to Sophie and back again. "The Headmistress sent me to tell you she wants to see you in her office."

Without changing his expression, Snape gave a brief nod and said, "Very well, Draco. I am on my way to see the Headmistress." He continued on, walking briskly while Sophie and Draco fell into step behind him. Sophie did not make eye contact with Malfoy, nor did she give any answer to the questioning look on her cousin's face.

Not soon enough for Sophie, this peculiar party reached Umbridge's office. Snape opened the door and Sophie and Draco stepped in behind him. To Sophie's horror, she saw Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna and -for some reason- Neville, being physically restrained by members of the Inquisitorial Squad, Umbridge standing triumphant in the room's centre. Neville looked as though Crabbe might be about to suffocate him, Ginny and Hermione were both still trying to struggle against the girls who were holding them, and Sophie was sorry to see a very miserable-looking Tracey half-heartedly restraining Luna, though Luna was not struggling at all, which was probably a good thing for Sophie's sake. Sophie met Tracey's eyes for a brief moment before the latter looked away.

Umbridge was speaking to Snape. "I would like another bottle of Veritaserum, as quick as you can, please."

_Oh, Good God, _thought Sophie. Surely Snape wouldn't-?

"You took my last bottle to interrogate Potter. Surely you did not use it all? I told you that three drops would be sufficient."

Apparently Umbridge had. "You can make some more, can't you?"

Snape replied that he could, and that it would be finished in a month, to which Umbridge responded with fury, and subsequently declared Snape to be on probation.

"You are being deliberately unhelpful!" screeched Umbridge. "I expected better, Lucius Malfoy always speaks most highly of you! Now get out of my office!"

Snape bowed, then turned and left. Recognizing that she would probably be more helpful to her friends outside this office than inside it, Sophie dashed out after him before Umbridge could ask her what she was doing.

"Professor," she gasped, catching up with him. "What are-"

"Be silent, Miss Tonks," hissed Snape, turning round to face Sophie. "I will look into Potter's claim. You must see that you keep yourself out of trouble with the Headmistress." And with that, Snape turned and swept away.

Sophie watched him go, turning over in her mind what she ought to do next. She decided it was best if she hung around the entrance to Umbridge's office, in case anyone left it.

She had only waited a few minutes before the door started to open. Sophie quickly dashed behind a nearby statue so as not to be seen. She did, however, peer around its edge and saw Hermione and Harry walking freely in front of Umbridge, leading her away. The moment the three of them were out of sight, Sophie scuttled over to the office and went inside, where she saw Ron, Neville, Ginny and Luna still struggling to free themselves from their captors's grasps. As soon as Sophie entered, Draco raised his wand, but Sophie was already prepared.

"_Expelliarmus_!" she shouted, and caught Malfoy's wand as it spiralled out of his fingers. Draco started towards her angrily, but Sophie quickly pointed both wands, one in each hand, at Warrington (who had Ron) and Crabbe (who was nearly suffocating Neville).

"_Petrificus Totalus!"_ she cried, and both boys fell over, stiff as boards. Ron and Neville immediately seized their wands from the two stiff bodies and proceeded to free Ginny. Tracey merely handed Luna her wand ("Thank you," said Luna mildly,) before running out the door. Meanwhile Draco had reached Sophie and was twisting her arm so as to retrieve his own wand from her. Millicent Bulstrode caught Sophie from behind and held her so that she couldn't escape; Sophie pushed against her and the three of them fell over onto the floor into a sort of bizarre wrestling match. Draco managed to wrest his wand from Sophie's grip, and had just aimed it at Sophie's face when he suddenly fell over backwards, hit with a jinx from Ginny from behind. Sophie struggled free and put a Body-Bind Curse on Millicent.

"Thanks," said Sophie. "What was that?" she asked Ginny, gazing at the appalling vision that was Malfoy's face.

"Bat Bogey Hex," replied Ginny. "And thank you for saving us."

"Nice," said Sophie. "And you're welcome, but where did Hermione and Harry go with Umbridge?"

"We're not sure," said Ron. "Hermione made up a story and said she could show Umbridge a top-secret weapon, but I don't know where they went."

"There they are," said Luna. She was gazing out of the window. "I can see them heading into the Forbidden Forest."

"OK..." said Sophie, taking a deep breath. "And Snape went to check to see about...about Snuffles." Sophie was painfully aware of the listening (though helpless) ears around them, and also of the fact that only Ron would fully understand her meaning. He nodded.

"We've got Harry and Hermione's wands," he said, holding them up. "I think we should return them while Snape's checking; we don't want them to be wandless with Umbridge."

Sophie hesitated, then nodded. "OK. We can find them and give them their wands back. She tossed Draco's wand down beside its owner, then led the other four out of the office and out of the castle.


	33. Voices From Beyond

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement._

Eventually they were able to find Hermione and Harry near the outer edge of the Forest. After explaining their escape from the Inquisitorial Squad, they asked what had happened to Umbridge.

"She got carried away by a herd of centaurs," said Harry.

"And they left you behind?"

"No," Harry replied. "They got chased off by Grawp."

Luna asked, "Who's Grawp?"

Ron answered, "Hagrid's little brother."

Sophie rolled her eyes, aware that this conversation was making little sense to Neville, Ginny or Luna. "Look, Harry, Snape said he's checking whether or not Sirius-"

But Harry shook his head. "We can't wait for Snape; he doesn't want to help us or Sirius anyway."

"But-" started Sophie.

"Look, we can't afford to wait much longer!" Harry exploded. "Voldemort has Sirius _right now_, Sophie! We've got to _do_ something!"

Harry turned away angrily, and an argument ensued over who was coming and how they were to get to the Ministry. Sophie was inwardly having an argument with herself: should she follow them to the Ministry, or wait for Snape? Eventually she realized that while she could intellectually debate with herself what she _should_ do, she could not conceive of watching Harry and the others go off to the Ministry, possibly to face dangers unknown...she had made her decision.

Luna suggested they use Thestrals to fly on, and eventually some Thestrals showed up near to where they were standing-or so Luna said. Sophie did not like Thestrals. Luna hopped up on one inconsequentially as though sitting sidesaddle on a horse; Harry and Neville both managed to climb on -though it was a very strange sight for Sophie as they appeared to be climbing up through thin air. Realizing their difficulty, Luna offered to help Sophie, Hermione, Ron and Ginny onto their own Thestrals.

"But wouldn't it be much easier if we just doubled up on the ones you're all on?" asked Sophie. "That way, at least the four of us will be able to see something while we're in the air." Sophie was not, as it will be remembered, fond of heights, and the prospect of riding on something completely invisible supporting her was not at all appealing. She would prefer to at least be able to hang on to a visible person.

"Oh, certainly," said Luna. Neither Harry nor Neville seemed to mind either, and Luna helped Ginny and Hermione up onto her own Thestral behind her, Ron clambered up behind Harry and Sophie, feeling for the Thestral with her hands, hoisted herself up onto Neville's Thestral, tightening her legs to the animal's back and grasping the back of Neville's robes with her hands.

"OK?" she asked him.

"Yes," Neville replied.

Harry spoke again, "We all ready, then? OK...Ministry of Magic, visitors' entrance, London, then...Er… if you know… where to go…"

The Thestrals did know where to go. Sophie hung on tightly to Neville (as he was all she could see as a means of support) and squeezed the invisible Thestral with her legs. The air was frigid and Sophie found herself envisioning a map of the country in her head, trying to imagine how much longer it would take to transverse the air space that lay between the Scottish Highlands and London...

Sophie could feel Neville shaking as they sped through the air. She determined not to look down, lest she scream or fall or terrify herself. Instead she fixed her eyes determinedly on the nape of Neville's neck where his blond hair started up from his skin which was shining with sweat.

The Thestrals eventually touched down upon solid ground. It was nighttime and the Thestrals had landed them in a deserted London street. Sophie hastily clambered off the Thestral so as to allow a shaking Neville off, though she felt as though her legs had turned to jelly. The others seemed to be experiencing a similar sensation and staggered slightly.

Harry led them all into a telephone booth where all seven of them were squashed unceremoniously together. Ron dialed on the receiver and a witch's voice spoke out of it:

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."

Harry rapidly spoke, "Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Sophie Tonks, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood… we're here to save someone, unless your Ministry can do it first!"

The voice answered. "Thank you. Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes." Hermione took the badges and handed them to Harry. "Visitors to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wands for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."

They descended in the telephone booth as though in a lift. When the booth stopped, all seven of them almost fell out, so crammed they had been inside. Sophie had never been to the Ministry before, but even considering this was during the night, she found it strange that the area into which they had arrived was completely empty. She would have expected a couple security wizards, at the very least. Instead the area was completely empty and eerily silent.

"I think something's wrong," said Sophie softly and inconsequentially.

With Harry in the lead, the seven of them ran down the corridor, their feet making a horrendous clamoring, but meeting no one. Harry led them to a lift which took them down to the Department of Mysteries. They entered a circular room, the perimetre lined by a multitude of doors. The room rotated as soon as they had walked a few paces into it probably, as Ginny said, to prevent them from knowing which door they came through. Moreover Harry did not seem to know which door they needed to go through to find Sirius, and suggested they try a few. Sophie had never been to the Ministry before, but she had heard a little about the Department of Mysteries and did not at all like the idea of poking about in it at random, but there seemed to be no alternative.

The first room contained a large tank, pale objects floating inside. Hermione said they were brains and they left to try another door.

This second room reminded Sophie of a theatre, but instead of a stage at the centre, there was an elevate platform on which stood a single archway with a black veil hanging from it, moving as though brushed by a breeze, though Sophie could feel no wind.

Harry called out, "Who's there?" He climbed down towards the veil, Hermione hanging back though the others following.

"Sirius?" said Harry.

Sophie encircled the archway. There was no one there, but she could hear voices. She glanced around at the others, but they were not speaking. The voices were very faint, although the more Sophie concentrated on them, the more she could seem to hear them. The voices were very distant, and sounded almost as if they were halfway between whispering and singing. Sophie barely registered the fact that Hermione was halfway up the seats calling for them to leave. Something about the veil seemed to resonate deeply with her, to entrance her. She felt almost as if she was familiar with the veil and the voices, as if she had thought of them before, or meant to do something about them, but then had forgotten. She found it difficult to drag her eyes away from the veil.

Hermione seized Sophie's arm and pulled her from the archway. All seven of them made their way up the seats and left the room. The next door was locked.  
"Does anyone else find it odd that all the other doors were unlocked?" whispered Sophie. "Aren't these the Ministry's top-secret projects down here?" The others looked troubled but could offer no explanation.

As it happened, they did come across one door that was locked and they were unable to open.

"This must be it!" exclaimed Sophie. They could not, however, find any way to open the door, and were forced to leave it.

After opening the fourth door, "This is it!" Harry cried. "This way!"

This room seemed to be concerned with clocks, at least, it was full of them. Harry led them through the room into another very tall room lined with shelves that were covered with filthy orbs. The room was completely silent and still.

Hermione spoke softly, "You said it was row ninety-seven."

"Yeah..." Harry looked up and Sophie followed his gaze: they were at row fifty-three.

Hermione glanced around. "We need to go right, I think...Yes… that's fifty-four…"

Harry reminded them, "Keep your wands ready."

Sophie swallowed hard and gripped her wand tightly. Was Voldemort right around one of these shelves? Did he have Sirius, and if so, was Sirius still alive? _Why_, thought Sophie. _Would it be so quiet if Voldemort were here torturing someone? Or did Voldemort leave hours ago?_

They arrived at the ninety-seventh row. They all shone their wandlights down it. Sophie could not see or hear anyone there.

Harry said, "He's right down at the end." Harry started to walk towards the other end, the others followed him. "You can't see properly from here...He should be near here. Anywhere here… really close…"

"Harry?" came Hermione's tentative voice.

Harry ignored her. "Somewhere about… here…"

They had walked the entire length of the row and had seen no sign of Sirius or anyone else. Harry ran to check the next row.

"Harry?" said Ron. "Have you seen this? It's...it's got your name on it."

Ron was looking at one particular sphere on the shelves. Sophie supposed Ron had been the only one to notice it because he was the tallest. Harry was looking at the sphere with him and then reached out his hand for it.

"What are you doing?" accused Sophie. "Don't touch it!" She did not know what the sphere was, but she did not like the idea of touching objects the Ministry had wanted to hide down here.

"Why not? It's something to do with me, isn't it?"

Neville added, "Don't, Harry."

Harry looked back at Sophie. "Harry," she pleaded. He looked into her eyes for a moment, then his own expression hardened and he said, "It's got my name on," and pulled the sphere from the shelf.

Sophie, hurt by Harry's actions, nevertheless stepped nearer to see the little ball now that Harry had it in his hand. As she did so a voice from behind her nearly shocked her out of her skin. Though she had only heard this voice twice before, she had no troubling in recognizing Lucius Malfoy's drawling speech:

"Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me."

Sophie and the others whipped around only to find themselves surrounded by about a dozen Death Eaters, all masked and hooded, their wands raised and pointed directly at them. Lucius Malfoy was in front, his hand outstretched towards Harry. "To me, Potter. To me."

Harry asked, "Where's Sirius?" Sophie swallowed. Harry must know, must realize, Sirius was never there...

The Death Eaters laughed and a woman whose voice Sophie did not recognize said, "The Dark Lord always knows!"

Lucius gave a brief nod. "Always. Now, give me the prophecy Potter."

"I want to know where Sirius is!" cried Harry.

"I want to know where Sirius is!" mocked the woman who had spoken before.

"You've got him. He's here," Harry insisted. "I know he is."

"The little baby woke up fwightened," taunted the witch. "And fort what it dweamed was twoo."

Ron, who was standing to Sophie's right, flinched and Harry whispered, "Don't do anything. Not yet -"

"You hear him? _You hear him?" _The witch Death Eater's mocking laughter echoed all around the high-ceilinged room. "Giving instructions to the other children as though he thinks of fighting us!"

"Oh," Lucius Malfoy spoke again. "You don't know Potter as I do, Bellatrix." Sophie's stomach turned over and her heart seemed to double its beats. Who this woman was had not ocurred to her until this moment...and she was right there, the face she had seen inthe _Daily Prophet_, in that photograph...did she see her, know who she was?

"It's time you learned the difference between life and dreams, Potter. Now give me the prophecy," said Lucius. "Or we start using wands."

Harry raised his wand. Following him, Sophie raised her own as well and sensed the other five doing the same. "Go on, then."

"Hand over the prophecy," stated Lucius. "And no one need get hurt."

"Yeah, right! I give you this - prophecy, is it? And you'll just let us skip off home, will you?" Harry laughed darkly.

"_Accio proph—_"

"_Protego!_"

Bellatrix had tried to Summon the sphere from Harry, but Harry had prevented her.

"Oh, he knows how to play," exclaimed Bellatrix. "Little bitty baby Potter. Very well, then -"

Lucius rounded on his sister-in-law. "I TOLD YOU, NO! If you smash it -!"

Bellatrix glared at Lucius, then lowered her wand and moved forward, pulling her mask off. Her face reminded Sophie of Sirius more than anyone else, Sirius when she had first met him in the Shrieking Shack-

"You need more persuasion? Very well - take the smallest one. Let him watch while we torture the little girl," she was pointing at Ginny. "I'll do it."

Sophie's throat tightened and moved backwards and to the right, as the others around her also moved so that they formed a close and protective ring around Ginny. Ron was still to her right and Luna was on her left.

Harry spoke directly to Bellatrix, clearly trying to keep the Death Eaters talking, not knowing what else to do. Sophie could think of no way they could all get out of this alive. She no more bought Lucius' feeble statement that the prophecy could be exchanged for their well-being than Harry did. They were Harry Potter whom Voldemort wanted most of all along with an assortment of "mudbloods" and "blood traitors:" why shouldn't the Death Eaters kill them? Sophie could think of only one source of hope: she had told Snape that Harry was going to try and get to the Department of Mysteries, might Snape put the pieces together when he realized Harry and they were all missing and send help?

Harry had referred to what the Death Eaters were calling a prophecy. "How come Voldemort wants it?"

"You dare speak his name?" asked Bellatrix in a soft and dangerous voice.

"Yeah. Yeah, I've got no problem with saying Vol—"

"Shut your mouth! You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your half-blood's tongue, you dare -" Bellatrix's speech absurdly reminded Sophie of the mad ravings of Walburga Black's portrait back in Grimmauld Place.

Harry pressed on. "Did you know he's a half-blood too? Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a witch but his dad was a Muggle - or has he been telling you lot he's pure-blood?"

Bellatrix raised her wand and screamed, "_STUPEF—_"

Lucius raised his own wand and redirected Bellatrix's spell. "NO! DO NOT ATTACK! WE NEED THE PROPHECY!...WAIT UNTIL WE'VE GOT THE PROPHECY!"

Harry continued to engage the Death Eaters in conversation. After several minutes, Sophie felt Luna press more closely into her. "Smash shelves," Luna breathed. "When Harry says 'now.' "

Sophie had stooped slightly to hear Luna, now she straightened and leaned as inconspicuously as she could towards Ron (Harry was still talking to the Death eaters and this seemed to hold their attention) and passed the same message into his ear. He gave a nearly imperceptible nod and Sophie saw him tighten his grip on his wand.

Harry was still speaking, "Someone made a prophecy about Voldemort and me? And he's made me come and get it for him? Why couldn't he come and get it himself?"

Bellatrix burst out laughing. "Get it himself? The Dark Lord, walk into the Ministry of Magic, when they are so sweetly ignoring his return? The Dark Lord, reveal himself to the Aurors, when at the moment they are wasting their time on my dear cousin?"

It irked Sophie to hear Bellatrix speak that way about Sirius, and she too tightened her grip on her wand and readied the word of the spell on her tongue. Harry could not be planning to wait much longer-

"NOW!"

"_REDUCTO!"_ Sophie screamed, her voice mingling with six others as she aimed her wand at a towering shelf of spheres behind the Death Eaters. Little balls, pieces of wood and pearly figures toppled forwards and confused the scene.

"RUN!" came Harry's next order. Sophie did not have to be told twice. She set off sprinting down the length of row ninety-seven, the others beside her, in front of her and behind. She could see Ron and Ginny in front of her as they reached the end of the row. They both turned left and kept running. Sophie followed them and could hear more footsteps behind her. She allowed herself a brief glance backwards and saw Luna close behind her, then, to her horror, she saw Bellatrix and another Death Eater beyond Luna, chasing after them. Where were the others?

"Keep on, Keep on!" she yelled to Ron and Ginny ahead. The four of them did not slow down, racing past more shelves. They eventually ran out of the Hall of Prophecy into and open room that contained more doors. Suddenly, two more Death Eaters raced out of another door, heading towards them from their left side. Hedged in from the side and behind, the four of them careened into one of the rooms, after Ron had opened the door.

They had not been in this room before; it was full of stars and planets and was so black Sophie could barely see. She heard the four Death Eaters race in behind them, but could not see where they were or where they should run. Then, suddenly, she realized she could not run even if she wanted to: she almost felt as if she were flying unsupported, but it was a sensation more comparable to floating. She reached out her arms and found Ginny's shoulder. "It's me," she breathed. "Did you see the others?"

"No," Ginny whispered back. "I thought they were right behind us."

"So did I," came Luna's voice from close by. "Ronald is here too though, I think. Ronald?"

"I'm-" came Ron's voice, but then the voice of one of the Death Eater's sounded from nearby as well, uttering a sort of spell, though not one that Sophie had ever heard the likes of before.

"Ron!" she cried, and noticed that she was suddenly on solid ground again, though the room was still pitch dark, illuminated only by eery orbs that Sophie recognized as planets.

She felt forwards with her right hand and touched Ron's shoulder. He gave a little gurgle of laughter. "Sophie," he said. "Is that you? What a weird-"

"Shhhhh," Sophie hushed him, grabbing a fistful of his robes and pulling him along. "Come on," she whispered. "We've got to get out of here. Ginny? Luna?"

"Loony," Sophie heard Ron giggle quietly to himself. "Loony Lovegood. Loony Loony Lovegood, hee hee..."

Sophie did not know what they had done to Ron, but felt fairly confident that whatever it was could be put right, either by Madam Pomfrey or by some Healers. Trying to focus on more pressing matters at hand, namely finding Ginny and Luna and finding the exit without running into any Death Eaters. Up ahead she could see two silhouettes that she recognized. "Luna?" she called again. "Ginny?"

"We're right here," came Luna's voice. She and Ginny were illuminated by the light of one of the planets. Sophie crept forwards towards them, leading Ron as she went. As they approached the two girls, Ron giggled. "Sophie," he said. "Do you know what this is? It's Uranus. It's-"

"_Stupefy_!" screamed a woman's voice.

Sophie whirled around, and without pausing to think, yelled, "_Protego!_" Then she pulled Ron out of the way and came to Luna and Ginny.

"Did you-" she began, but before she could finish, a Death Eater, silhouetted by the light of Uranus, sprang forwards toward Ginny. Ginny lurched forwards and crashed into Sophie who tumbled backwards so that Ginny was lying on top of Sophie on the floor. The Death Eater was still there by Sophie and Ginny's feet.

"_Reducto_!" cried Luna. The Death Eater was blasted backwards, but Sophie heard Ginny give a cry of pain.

"Your ankle?" Luna asked her.

"Yes," gasped Ginny.

"Here," said Luna, helping Ginny to stand and supporting her. "I think I can see the exit, let's go."

"God bless you," muttered Sophie, pulling Ron forwards and following Luna and Ginny as quietly as possible (Ron was now giggling about something else).

Luna was right abut the exit. The four of them managed to leave into the bright corridor outside and Sophie shut the door, leaving the four Death Eaters to wander about inside, hopefully not realizing for some time that their quarry had left.

"Let's get away from here," said Sophie. "I think I can fix your ankle, Ginny, but-" she gestured towards the room they knew the Death Eaters were wandering around in.

Luna nodded in agreement and supported Ginny down the corridor, Sophie still lugging Ron with her. "It's rather unfortunate that all these Death Eaters are here, isn't it?" said Luna conversationally.

"Rather," said Sophie. "Look, let's go in here." She opened the door to a side cupboard and all four of them piled in.

"Keep him under control," Sophie instructed Luna, releasing Ron to bring her attention to Ginny. "Let me see," she said to Ginny who was very pale, sitting against a wall and grasping her ankle.

"I think it may be broken," said Luna airily as she prevented Ron from touching the cleaning supplies in the cupboard. "I heard a cracking noise."

"OK," said Sophie as she eased Ginny's shoe and sock off her foot, trying to cause Ginny the least amount of pain possible. She saw the ankle bone was indeed sticking out at an abnormal angle. Summoning all she could remember of the theory of a particular spell, she held her and over Ginny's ankle and carefully spoke the needed incantation. To her relief, she saw the bone straighten at once and Ginny's breathing returned to normal from her strained gasps. "Better?" asked Sophie.

"All better," replied Ginny, giving her a brief smile. "Thanks. So what do we do now?"

"We find the others and then get the hell out of here," answered Sophie, springing to her feet. She unlatched the cupboard door then very cautiously stuck her wand and head out to check for Death Eaters. Not seeing any, she gestured for the others to follow her out.

"I think that door leads to the centre we came from," said Sophie, pointing ahead. "Come on."

They ran (as best they could- Luna was half-pulling Ron along) to the door Sophie had indicated. Ginny reached it first and turned the handle. The handle appeared to be stuck and Ginny had some trouble opening it. By the time she got it open Sophie, Luna and Ron had gotten very close behind her and when she opened the door they all sort of half fell through it; Sophie narrowly avoided crushing Ginny with her weight. She glanced up and to her great relief, saw Harry and Neville standing. Neville was (Sophie's heart seemed to skip a couple beats) supporting a seemingly lifeless Hermione.  
Sophie glimpsed her own relief and concern mirrored in Harry's face as the latter started to ask how they were, but Ron seized Harry's robes and started saying something to him, giggling all the time.

"Hermione?" Sophie asked Neville fearfully.

"She's alive," Neville reassured her. His nose seemed to be broken. "A Deaf Eader hid her wid sub spell, but she sdill has a pulse."

Sophie nodded. She didn't have a clue what had been done to Hermione so she didn't dare try to fix her. She did however know she could help Neville.

"Your nose is broken?" she asked him. He nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "But id's OK-"

"Hold still," she told him, aiming her wand directly at his nose. "_Episkey," _she said carefully. Neville's nose straightened at once.

Neville reached up to touch it. "Thanks Sophie!"

Luna had been explaining what had happened to them all to Harry who now pulled Ron up, supporting him over his shoulders as Neville was doing with Hermione. Sophie, Ginny and Luna (the only able-bodied persons not supporting anyone else) stood in front of them, wands raised as they started towards one door. Sophie had just reached it when she heard a door behind her fling open. Turning she saw Bellatrix and the other Death Eaters that had chased them into the Planet Room hurtling towards them. They sent Stunning Spells at them and Sophie jumped aside leaving Luna to open the door. Sophie quickly conjured Shield Charms between the Death Eaters and herself and her friends, giving Harry and Neville enough time to make it over the threshold before she too turned and leaped into the room, slamming the door with Harry almost in Bellatrix's face.

Harry yelled, "Colloportus!" to prevent the Death Eaters from entering. They shouted for more Death Eaters, so Sophie, Harry, Neville, Luna and Ginny started securing the other doors (they had gone into the Brain Room, Sophie noted) with the same spell.

Sophie paused only as she heard Luna scream. She whirled around and saw Bellatrix leading four other Death Eaters into the room. They had sent Luna flying and rendered her unconscious and were now streaking towards Harry.

They would have reached Harry, Sophie was sure, had Ron not done what he did next. Bizarrely fascinated by the brains in the centre of the room, Ron pointed his wand at them.

"Accio brain!"

Even Bellatrix and the other Death Eaters turned to see what would happen when Ron touched the brain.

Sophie watched in horror as the tentacle-like pieces of brain enwrapped themselves around Ron's body and he began to struggle. Not having any experience with brains, Sophie did not know what could be done to save him, and was staring helplessly at him when one of the Death Eaters seemed to remember what they were supposed to be doing and sent more Stunners, one which hit Ginny and one that narrowly missed Neville. Sophie used another Shield Charm to protect herself from one that Bellatrix had sent flying straight to her heart. _They're trying to take us all out_, thought Sophie. _So that Harry won't have anyone to help him_. Again she thought of the chance that perhaps Snape would send Order members to help them, or even that some Aurors floors above them would hear the racket and come running. For now though, Sophie felt alone and helpess as she watched Harry race out of the room, Death Eaters following after him, leaving Sophie and Neville with a struggling Ron and three unconscious figures.


	34. The Rippled Veil

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement._

"Neville, help me," said Sophie, racing over to Ron.

"We've got to help Harry," said Neville.

"I know, I know," cried Sophie. "But we can't let this thing strangle Ron. Hold him still for me, Neville. And be careful!"

Neville obeyed, grasping Ron's struggling body around his hips. Sophie aimed her wand very carefully and directly at the brain tentacle. She hated doing this, but couldn't think of another way to free Ron.

"_Incendio!"_

Neville yelled with shock and Ron screamed with pain as the fire burned up the brain tentacle next to his skin. The instant Sophie saw the bulk of the tentacle gone, she shrieked, "_Augamenti!"_ and drenched Ron with water, dousing the fire. She quickly helped pull him free from the remaining pieces of brain. "I'm so sorry, Ron. I'm so sorry."

Ron murmured an unintelligible response. Neville, seeing that Ron was free, stood and said, "I'm going to Harry." He charged off without further ado.

"Neville!" called Sophie desperately. She moaned and looked down at Ron. She pulled back his robes to examine his skin. His burns were not too bad and he seemed relatively OK -he had even started giggling again.

Sophie stood up and gazed down uncertainly at Ron, the glanced at the place Harry and Neville had run through, then back at Ron.

"_Petrificus Totalus!_" she cried, pointing her wand at Ron. She knew his mind wasn't right at the time and she didn't want him wandering off somewhere. She charged off after Neville.

She found that Neville had followed Harry into the room that had the black veil between the archway that had captivated her attention before. Neville was waving his wand around at the Death Eaters, trying to Stun them and having no success. Just as Sophie made it down the stone benches one of the Death Eaters grabbed Neville and held him unable to move. Another sent a Stunner towards Sophie. She deflected it with a Shield Charm. She kept her wand raised as she came to stand beside Harry.

Lucius Malfoy was there and smirked at the sight of Neville. "It's Longbottom, isn't it? Well, your grandmother is used to losing family members to our cause… your death will not come as a great shock."

A flicker of recognition floated into Bellatrix's eyes. "Longbottom? Why, I have had the pleasure of meeting your parents, boy."

Sophie tightened her grip on her raised wand.

Neville struggled and kicked in the Death Eater's grasp. "I KNOW YOU HAVE!"

The Death Eater holding Neville fought to keep him under control. "Someone Stun him!" He shouted. Sophie sent a Stunner straight to the man's face without a second thought. He collapsed, but Neville was quickly grabbed by another nearby Death Eater.

"Don't you hurt him," hissed Sophie dangerously. She was shaking with rage. The Death Eaters laughed and Bellatrix eyes narrowed as they rested for several moments on Sophie, and Sophie knew that her aunt realized who she was.

"Ridiculous girl," she said in a soft and deadly tone. Then she smirked and shifted her eyes back to Neville. "Let's see how long Longbottom lasts before he cracks like his parents… unless Potter wants to give us the prophecy."

Sophie glanced sideways and met Harry's vivid green eyes filled with conflict and confusion. Neither of them knew what the prophecy was, so it was difficult to know to what lengths they should go to keep it from the Death Eaters. The fact that they wanted it was enough to tell them they ought not to have it, but how great of a loss would it be? Sophie reflected that, no matter the loss to their side, this sphere was not worth Neville. She gave Harry a small nod.

Neville yelled, "DON'T GIVE IT TO THEM! DON'T GIVE IT TO THEM, HARRY!"

"_Crucio!"_ exclaimed Bellatrix.

Neville's screams echoed off the vaulting walls of the room, bouncing off the stone dais and archway and constricting something in Sophie's chest. The Death Eater who had been holding him threw him to the floor.

"_Harry!_" shrieked Sophie.

Bellatrix stopped her curse. "That was just a taster! Now, Potter, either give us the prophecy, or watch your little friend die the hard way!"

"Harry," Sophie whispered. And Harry did it. He held out the prophecy to Lucius whose eyes gleamed with excitement. He stretched out his arm to take the prophecy from Harry.

Sophie heard a bang and thundering footsteps from behind and above her. She turned just in time to see Dora casting a Stunner towards Lucius, Sirius, Kingsley, Lupin and Moody behind her. Without having time to feel properly relieved, Sophie ducked instinctively and saw Harry jump off to one side and out of her range of vision. Sliding on her knees along the floor, Sophie reached Neville and helped him along on the floor to the edge of the dais where they met Harry.

"Are you OK?" asked Harry as the battle raged over their heads.

"Yes," said Neville.

Harry nodded. "And Ron-"

"I got the brain off him, Harry, don't worry," said Sophie. She didn't think it was necessary to tell Harry exactly how she had done this at this most inopportune moment.

Spells and curses were being fired amok over their heads, so the three of them tried to quickly crawl away when Harry was suddenly grabbed and pulled upright by a masked Death Eater. Sophie raised her wand but suddenly felt herself tossed backwards, spinning through the air before landing hard on the stone floor. She was some twenty feet away from Harry and the Death Eater, too far to shoot a spell. She realized the Death Eater had sent her flying away for that purpose. She started back towards Harry and then saw Neville leap up and poke his wand straight into the eye of the Death Eater who dropped Harry. Harry Stunned the man and Sophie raced up to them.

"Nice!" she shouted to Neville. Harry suddenly stumbled and Sophie and Neville grabbed him to keep him from falling. Harry had slipped, Sophie noticed, her stomach turning over in horror, on Moddy's magical eye and Moody was lying injured a few feet away. Another Death Eater –Antonin Dolohov- raised his wand and sent spells at Neville and Sophie.

"_Protego!"_ screamed Sophie, blocking the spells from hitting herself or Neville. Dolohov raised his wand again, but this time Sirius raced towards him, his shoulder colliding with Dolohov and sending him flying.

Sophie did not see what happened next with Sirius and Dolohov; her attention had been diverted as her eyes found Dora and saw that she was dueling with Bellatrix. She watched, her heart in her throat, as Dora shot a curse at Bellatrix and the latter deflected it and sent her own curse rapid-fire back at her niece. Dora could not respond quickly enough and Bellatrix's curse hit her directly in the chest and she fell. Sophie watched in horror, unable to scream aloud as her sister's body tumbled down the stone steps. Sophie would have run to Dora, but Bellatrix was now racing back towards the rest of the battle; Sophie did not want to cross her path, and in any case, her legs didn't seem to be working properly.

Harry came running back to Sophie and Neville. "We need to get out of here!" he yelled to them.

Sophie nodded dazedly and the three of them started to move forwards towards the exit, when all of a sudden Sophie saw the black robes of a Death Eater fly across her field of vision. She turned and saw that the Death Eater had pinned Harry to the floor, the man's short white-blond hair gleaming conspicuously above the dark robe. It was Lucius Malfoy and Harry was trying desperately to twist his arm away, holding the prophecy out of his grasp-

"Sophie!" yelled Harry.

The ghostly orb was vaulting through the air towards Sophie: Harry had thrown her the prophecy.

Springing to life, Sophie leapt, arm outstretched and caught the prophecy. She held it close to her body and raised her wand to defend herself. Lucius had turned away from Harry and was instead aiming his wand at his niece when Harry hit him with a spell from behind.

"_Impedimenta!_"

Lucius was forcibly thrown off of Harry. Suddenly Lupin was there, firmly and urgently instructing them all to go. Once again Sophie, Neville and Harry began to race for the exit up the stone steps, away from the mad fray of spells and fighting below. Just as they had almost reached the door to leave, it sprang open and revealed none other than Dumbledore. Sophie had never been more happy to see anyone, though Dumbledore himself looked positively terrifying, his wand raised, his startling and piercing eyes blazing. He raced past Sophie, Neville and Harry (all of whom had stopped and turned to watch –it did not seem necessary to flee anymore).

Dumbledore immediately began disabling the Death Eaters and preventing them from leaving; he seemed to be placing some sort of Anti-Apparition curse on them so that most of them were all caught in the middle of the room, unable to leave.

One, however, he never got to.

Bellatrix was dueling fiercely with Sirius in the middle of the room on the dais next to the veiled archway. Sophie thought of Sirius and how so badly he had been wanting to leave the confines of Grimmauld Place, of the satisfaction he must have now, to be out and fighting none other than the most fanatical of the daughters of that house…indeed, Sirius seemed exhilarated, and even laughed at his cousin as her Stunner missed him.

"Come on," he taunted. "You can do better-"

"_No_!" screamed Sophie, before Sirius had finished his sentence, before she really knew why her heart and the steady beat of time both seemed to have ceased.

Bellatrix's second Stunner found its mark over Sirius' heart. He seemed to reverberate for a moment, his face appeared startled as he fell backwards, his torso disappearing through the black curtain that was the mysterious veil.

It took Sophie several moments to realize that Harry was no longer standing with her. He had made his way down to the floor and was now at the dais, calling his godfather's name. Sophie knew, without knowing how she knew, that Sirius was beyond reappearance. He had joined those whose voices she had heard before.

Neville had started down the steps towards Harry and Sophie followed him blindly and automatically, hardly knowing what she was doing as her mind struggled to comprehend. They came up to Harry far too quickly, Sophie felt, considering the distance between the top of the stone steps and the dais. Lupin was standing with Harry, holding his arm tightly.

Neville spoke, "Harry? Harry… I'm really sorry. Was that man - was Sirius Black a - a friend of yours?"

Sophie said nothing. She felt as though she ought to comfort Harry, but had lost the ability to form words. Neville was explaining to Sirius where the others were when Bellatrix suddenly started running out from behind the dais

"SHE KILLED SIRIUS! SHE KILLED HIM!" Harry roared insanely. "I'LL KILL HER!"

"Harry!" cried Sophie, coming back to reality. "Harry, come back! _No!_"

Sophie was wild with panic now. Bellatrix would kill him, she was sure. She turned to Lupin. "He's-"

"I know," Lupin replied, looking pained. "Sophie, you and Neville go back to the others and _stay there_. Do you understand me?"

Sophie nodded and she and Neville took off back up to the exit. This time they did not pause, but ran straight into the Brain Room. Hermione and Luna were still both unconscious, but Ron and Ginny were both awake and moving. Ginny looked utterly confused.

They explained what had happened in the Death Room (as Sophie was now beginning to think of it) and Ginny explained that she had eventually woken up and revived Ron (who was still giggling to himself). Not long after Sophie and Neville arrived in the Brain Room, Dumbledore himself raced through, clearly in pursuit of Harry.

"So Dumbledore's going after Harry?" asked Ginny, her face pale after hearing the whole story.

Sophie shrugged. "I guess."

After they had all explained what had happened, nobody felt much like talking. Sophie sat in the Brain Room surrounded by Neville, Ginny and Ron (along with the unconscious figures of Hermione and Luna), her knees pressed up to her forehead, praying that Dumbledore had reached Harry in time.

After what seemed like hours, Dumbledore came to the Brain Room. Sophie leapt to her feet.

"Is-" she began.

"Yes," said Dumbledore. He looked spent and weary. "Harry is perfectly fine. I have sent him back to Hogwarts." Dumbledore glanced at Ron who was feebly chuckling and waved his wand over him. Ron groaned and stopped laughing. He seemed to be returned to normal. Dumbledore continued, "And Bellatrix Lestrange is gone. She escaped with Voldemort, I'm sorry to say."

"_Voldemort _was here in the Ministry, sir?" asked Sophie, shocked.

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "And though it should not have taken such a blatant event to make the Minister see the truth, it has."

"So, everyone knows now, Professor?" asked Ginny. "That Harry's been telling the truth?"

"Yes," said Dumbledore heavily. "Everyone now knows. Or will, shortly. Now," he gazed meaningfully at Sophie, Neville, Ron and Ginny. "It's high time all of you returned to Hogwarts as well. Madam Pomfrey will be able to deal with your injuries and help these two." He indicated Hermione and Luna's unconscious figures on the floor.

They all stood but Dumbledore raised one long finger. "Miss Tonks, I must first ask that you give me that prophecy you're holding."

Startled, Sophie looked down and realized she was still grasping the prophecy that had caused everything. What on earth was it about, this secret she held in her hands? She gazed at it for a split second before relinquishing it into Dumbledore's outstretched hand.

Sophie was standing near the front steps of the school, her back to the castle. She was looking at the edge of the Forest where there were a couple Thestrals moving about by the trees at the Forest's edge. Sophie had never seen them before, but now found she could not look away.

Sophie couldn't help staring at the black skeletal winged horses; there was something eerily mesmerizing about them. Several days ago she had ridden a Thestral and not been able to see what was supporting her. Now they stood in her view and she could see them as plain as anything. Looking at them gave her a peculiar, constricted feeling in her chest. She knew it was real; she knew Sirius was gone because she had seen him go through the veil and not reappear beyond. The realization of it had hit her quite suddenly and her memories of what had happened afterwards, Harry running off after Bellatrix, she and Neville going back to the others, returning to Hogwarts, hearing that Dora was going to St. Mungo's but would make a full recovery...it all seemed very blurred and ran together in her head. Mainly she felt as though something had been stripped from her that she could never get back; not only had she lost Sirius (and she knew that her pain at this loss was nothing to Harry's), but she had also lost the blissful naivete she had possessed only a short while ago (though it seemed an eternity). She felt a million miles away from the girl who had only a few days ago been worrying about O.W.L.s and exam revision, as though she were completely detached from that person.

"Sophie?" came a familiar voice.

Sophie…that name was connected to her somehow…

She turned and saw Sigmund walking cautiously towards her. "How are you?" he asked her.

She half-shrugged. Sigmund nodded. "I'm sorry, Sophie."

"Me too," she said softly. She saw Sigmund's eyes follow her gaze towards the Thestrals at the Forest's edge and knew he was blind to them.

Sigmund took a deep breath. "I know it's all horrible, but at least everyone knows the truth now, Sophie."

Sophie did not reply. Everyone did not know the truth. Sigmund himself could not see the great winged horse-like creatures. Hermione could not hear voices beyond the veil. Sophie felt as though Truth had suddenly ripped a blindfold off her eyes and her vision was only just coming in to focus properly in the bright sunlight, as if she had been gazing into blurry and unclear reflection of reality before. She did not blame those who still saw that way. But she also knew she was not one of them. Reality had screamed too loudly at her from the archway, from those whispered voices, from Bellatrix's menacing eyes that were now haunting her dreams, from Sirius' startled face, from Neville's rounded determined one…

"Hi Sigmund!" called a girl's voice. Sophie looked round and saw Parvati walking by on the grounds. Sigmund grinned and waved back at her.

"You like her, don't you?" asked Sophie quietly.

The grin fled from Sigmund's face as he turned to Sophie. "No!" he said. "I mean, she, well, you know, you and I-"

"Sigmund Greengrass," said Sophie, coming the closest she had in several days to cracking a smile. "You are normally a very articulate man: you must like her. It's OK."

Sigmund gazed uncertainly at her. "It's...OK?"

"It's been really really great being with you," said Sophie. "You're strong and kind and an awesome gentleman and any girl would be lucky to have you." She looked directly into his deep brown eyes. "But...I think that lucky girl is meant to be somebody else."

"Is this just because of Parvati-"

"No," said Sophie, cutting across him nd ropping her gaze. "No, it's...I like someone else too." She gave a small smile which he returned.

"I hope you'll be happy, Sophie," he told her. "You're an awesome girl." He held out his hand to her. "Friends?"

"Of course," she replied, grasping his hand. They let go of each other and Sigmund walked away.

Sophie returned her gaze to the Thestrals near the edge of the Forest. She did not know how long she stood there, but eventually night began to descend. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sigmund walking with Parvati near the lake's edge, and then her eyes fell upon Harry, whom she hadn't noticed before, but he was sitting on the bank, watching the Thestrals as well. Sophie moved her eyes from Harry, sitting so still he might have been a statue, to Sigmund, then looked away from him. She had made her choice.


	35. The Trouble With Dora

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement._

Sarah Perks had a tattered, old (though lovingly read), poetry book. She had acquired it during secondary school and kept it since in a well-dusted tall bookcase in the Perks family library. She rarely read it now as she had much of the poetry memorized, and had given it to her goddaughter for her sixteenth birthday.

Sophie had not thought much of this book that Alazne had delivered to her on her birthday morning six months previously and had only casually rifled the pages before tossing it unceremoniously into her trunk. Now, however, as Sophie busied herself with unpacking her trunk in her bedroom the first week of July, the worn black book caught her attention, amid numerous newspaper clippings (_MALFOY SENTENCED TO LIFE IN AZKABAN, HARRY POTTER: THE CHOSEN ONE?, HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY, AUROR RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL, LESTRANGE STILL AT LARGE)_. She sat down on the edge of her bed and flipped the book open to a random page.

"_Death, Be Not Proud_," the heading read.

She was reminded of the arrogant and prideful Death figure that had skulked through the bedtime stories her parents had read to her as a child. She couldn't see how that figure connected to what had befallen Sirius. Here eyes fell upon the first line: _Death, be not proud, though some have called thee-"_

Just then Sophie heard shouts from below her room. Footsteps pounded the staircase and a door slammed. Dropping the book face down onto her bed, Sophie ran out her door and down the stairs to investigate.

She found her mother in the kitchen by the window, staring out of it with her arm crossed and her back to Sophie.

"What was all that about?" asked Sophie.

Mrs. Tonks sighed and turned around. "Nothing for you to worry about, Sophronia."

"Why shouldn't I worry?" asked Sophie. "She's my sister and I care about what happens to her."

Mrs. Tonks busied herself by the kitchen sink. After a few moments, never looking at her youngest daughter, she said, "Nymphadora has been feeling much better today."

Sophie raised her hands, then dropped them in frustration. Sighing loudly, she turned on her heel, going back up the stairs and knocking on Dora's bedroom door.

"Go away," came her sister's voice through the door.

"It's _me,"_ Sophie replied.

There was no answer, so Sophie tentatively opened the door. Dora was sitting on the window seat and made no protest when Sophie entered the room.

"Mum said you're feeling better," remarked Sophie.

"Mum's a liar, then," Dora retorted.

"Right," said Sophie. "But I think she meant since getting out of the hospital. Clearly you were able to run all the way up here." Dora had been in St. Mungo's for several days after the recent skirmish at the Ministry where she had been badly injured by their aunt Bellatrix. Both Mr. and Mrs. Tonks' mouths had tightened when Dora had (reluctantly) told them who had injured her. Sophie strongly suspected her mother had shed more than a few tears over this incident, though she was careful to hide them from her daughters. What Sophie felt unsaid was the fact that Dora having run upstairs more than likely showed she was still too weak to Apparate.

Dora raised one shoulder in a shrug. "Whatever. I still can't-" she stood and faced the mirror, screwing up her eyes in concentration. After a few seconds, she relaxed her face, her appearance unchanged. "It's no use," she said, and then, much to Sophie's surprise, put her face in her hands and burst into tears.

Sophie had almost never seen Dora cry before (the exception being when their Aunt Pauline –their father's sister- had died six years previously). She placed a gentle hand on her sister's shuddering arm.

"Did the Healers think you would have problems with your Metamorphosing?"

"It's not that," said Dora, between shaking sobs. "It's because of _him_. I was talking to him the day before I left the hospital, and he was saying that he won't…that I can't…be with him."

Sophie had an idea of what her sister meant, but just to verify, asked, "Who are we talking about?"

"Remus," said Dora. "I thought-" she gave a little hiccough. "I thought he felt the same way about me, all through the last year…I _know_ he does, but now he just wants to end everything, says there's no future for us…"

"Um," said Sophie, her mind struggling to wrap itself around the concept of her sister and former teacher romantically entangled. "Did he give you any reasons?"

Dora snorted. "Oh, several," she said bitterly. "He's too _old_, too _poor." _She dropped her hands and glared at her reflection in the mirror. "As if any of that mattered! And _then_-" Dora's eyes narrowed with anger. "I told Mum and Dad about it all last night, and they _agreed_ with him."

"What?" asked Sophie. "You mean they said-"

Dora nodded. "They don't want me with a werewolf, they said." She looked up at her sister, her expression and toe betraying her outrage and indignation. "Them, of all people."

Sophie's reservations about this unusual pairing vanished instantly. How dare her parents disapprove of Remus the way Mr. Tonks had been disapproved of? Hadn't being cut off from her own family been enough to show Mrs. Tonks the damage parental disapproval in this area could bring?

Sophie thought very highly of Remus Lupin; believed him to be one of the best men she knew and hated prejudice against him for his condition.

"Screw them," said Sophie softly. Dora nodded morosely.

Sophie sat down next to her sister on her bed and put an arm around her, leaning her head on Dora's shoulder. She and Doragazed at their reflections side by side in the mirror. Side by side, with Dora unable to Metamorphose, Sophie could almost see their sisterly resemblance, with similar shades of brown hair (Sophie had been neglecting her highlights in the wake of her exams and then Sirius' death), although Dora's heart-shaped face was much more reminiscient of their father's. Sophie had always felt that rays of disapproval and disappointment were radiating from her mother towards her for being such a Black in her looks, for bringing painful past memories to the surface by her very appearance. But now, for the first time, Sophie realized that Dora's situation probably brought more painful memories to her parents than her own lean figure, dark eyes and aristocratic features did.

A week or so later Dora and Sophie were invited by Mrs. Weasley over to the Burrow. Dora had been the recipient of many invitations from the Weasley family to come for dinner that summer, ostensibly to see how she was doing after being in the hospital, and Sophie was included in this one. Hermione and Harry were going to be there as well, Sophie was told. She was glad for the opportunity to see her friends before school again, and hoped that Mrs. Weasley's company would cheer Dora up.

Sophie had not heard a great deal from Harry that summer. She suspected that he, even more so than herself, was in no mood to write in the wake of Sirius' death. On that note, however, Sophie had been told that Sirius had, in his will, left all his belongings to Harry. All the Black family possessions, everything from what remained of the Black family fortune to 12 Grimmauld Place to Kreacher the House-elf now belonged to Harry. Dumbledore had said this was good, as the alternative would have meant Sirius' belongings going to his eldest relative- Bellatrix Lestrange.

Hermione, Ron and Ginny greeted Sophie enthusiastically and informed her that Harry would be arriving the following day, brought by Dumbledore. Sophie slept on the floor with Hermione in Ginny's room and the following day they awoke to find that Harry had arrived during the night. After greeting Harry, their conversation turned to Fleaur Delacour, who was Bill Weasley's fiancée (they were planning on getting married the following year). Sophie didn't mind her particularly, but Hermione and Ginny seemed to despise her and her upcoming union with Bill.

Ginny looked skeptically at Ron. "You don't really want her around for ever? Well, Mum's going to put a stop to it if she can, I bet you anything."

Harry questioned, "How's she going to manage that?"

"She keeps trying to get Tonks round for dinner," explained Ginny. "I think she's hoping Bill will fall for Tonks instead. I hope he does. I'd much rather have her in the family."

"No," said Sophie. "No, that's not-"

"Yeah, that'll work," said Ron sarcastically, cutting across Sophie. "Listen, no bloke in his right mind's going to fancy Tonks when Fleur's around. I mean, Tonks is OK - loooking when she ism't doing stupid things to her hair and her nose, but-"

Ginny interjected, "She's a damn sight nicer than Phlegm."

"And she's more intelligent," added Hermione. "She's an Auror!"

"Fleur's not stupid," countered Harry. "She was good enough to enter the Triwizard Tournament."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Not you as well!"

Ginny said, "I suppose you like the way Phlegm says 'Arry" do you? I'd much rather have Tonks in the family. At least she's a laugh."

Ron raised his eyebrows. "She hasn't been much of a laugh lately. Every time I've seen her she looks more like Moaning Myrtle."

Hermione replied, "That's not fair. She still hasn't got over what happened...you know...I mean, he was her cousin!"

"He was Sophie's cousin too and you don't see her walking around like a ghost," said Ron, gesturing towards Sophie who was frowning slightly. "Besides, they barely knew each other! Sirius was in Azkaban have her life and before that their families never met-"

"That's not the point," said Hermione. "She thinks it was her fault he died!"

"How does she work that one out?" said Harry.

"Well, she was fighting Bellatrix Lestrange, wasn't she? I think she feels that if only she had finished her off, Bellatrix couldn't have killed Sirius."

"That's stupid," said Ron.

"She doesn't think that at all," said Sophie.

They all turned to her. "Why's she so upset then?" asked Hermione. "Isn't it survivor's guilt? I know Lupin's tried to talk her round-"

"Hermione," said Sophie. "Will you please stop jumping to all sorts of conclusions? Of course Dora and I are both upset about Sirius, but Dora doesn't think it's her fault he was killed and it isn't his dying that's made her look so ill. And your mum," she turned to Ron and Ginny. "May not want Bill to marry Fleur, but she's definitely not trying to set him up with Dora, either."

"But if it's not survivor's guilt, then why is she really down?" asked Hermione. "She's actually having trouble with her Metamorphosing!"

"With her -?" Harry asked.

"She can't change her appearance anymore," explained Sophie.

"Her powers must have been affected by shock or something, right?" asked Hermione.

"Well," said Sophie, hesitantly. "Not exactly…"

"Then what," started Hermione, but just then the door opened again and Mrs. Weasley looked in, asking Ginny to come and help her with lunch downstairs. Ginny left.

Sophie, Herrmione, Harry and Ron chatted casually about Fred and George;s new joke shop, Percy's continued estrangement from the rest of the Weasleys, and Harry mentioned that Dumbledore was going to be giving him his own lessons that year.

Sophie and Hermione glanced quickly at each other, eyebrows raised. Could this be about the prophecy? Ron clued in shortly and caught Sophie and Hermone's eyes significantly.

Harry hesitated for a couple moments before saying, with an air of resolution, though his eyes were fixed on the fork in his hand, "I don't know exactly why he's going to be giving me lessons, but I think it must be because of the prophecy…You know, the one they were trying to steal at the Ministry."

"Nobody knows what it said-" began Hermione, but Sophie cut across her.

"Yeah, we're familiar with it," said Sophie.

"And the Prophet-" started Ron.

"Shhh!" Hermione hushed him.

Harry finally looked up at them, his eyes flickering briefly to each of their faces. "The Prophet's got it. That glass ball that smashed wasn't the only record of the prophecy. I heard the whole thing in Dumbledore's office, he was the one the prophecy was made to, so he could tell me. From what it said…it looks like I'm the one who's got to finish off Voldemort… At least, it said neither of us could live while the other survives."

Sophie was amazed at the calm in Harry's voice as he said this. It was all so bizarre…a child of prophecy defeating a dark wizard as a baby, then having to face him as an adult to ensure his final annhilation…it was so poetically laid out, but it seemed impossible that such a grand story could be connected with her own Harry. Sophie sharply recalled that on first meeting Harry she had been astonished at the normalness and unassuming personality of such a legendary figure. Sometime sin the past five years, he seemed to have flipped in her mind…

BANG!

A cloud of smoke appeared where Hermione had been a moment before. She had, it transpired, squeezed a stray telescope too tightly and it had punched her in the face, blackening her eye.

"Here," offered Sophie, raising her wand.

"You're not supposed to-" said Hermione, a crease between her brows.

"Oh, shut up, they'll never know," said Sophie. She muttered a charm under her breath, aiming her wand carefully at Hermione's eye. Nothing happened.

"What the-" said Sophie, confused.

Ron's mouth was turned upwards in an almost-smile at the sight of Hermione. "Don't worry. Mum'll be able to fix that."

Hermione brushed this matter aside. "Oh well, never mind that now!" said Hermione hastily. She explained to Harry about how she, Sophie and Ron had speculated about this, based on what Lucius Malfoy had been saying at the Ministry.

"Are you scared?"

"Not as much as I was ," Harry said. Sophie nodded encouragingly. "When I first heard it, I was… but now, it seems as though I always knew I'd have to face him in the end…"

They pointed out that Dumbledore must be thinking of utilizing these lessons to teach Harry stuff that would give him what Sophie called "a fighting chance," and what Hermione interpreted as (and spoke at length about) advanced defensive magic.

"But it can't just be defense," Sophie pointed out to Hermione. "Harry can't just evade Voldemort forever hoping that someday he'll fall over dead from dragon pox. Dumbledore'll make sure Harry knows stuff that he can use on offense too."

Hermione shrugged and said to Harry, "Well, at least you know one lesson you'll be having this year, that's one more than us. I wonder when our OWL results will come?"

Ron said, "Can't be long now, it's been a month."

"Not quite," Sophie corrected him. "I think it might be a bit longer-"

"Hang on, I think Dumbledore said our OWL results would be arriving today!" Harry said.

Hermione's eyebrow shot up into her hairline. "Today Today? But why didn't you… oh my God… you should have said…I'm going to see whether any owls have come…"

Sophie smiled and stood. "Oh, Harry," she said playfully. "You always know just what to say to keep Hermione calm."

Four owls did arrive that morning. Sophie, Hermione, Harry and Ron all took their letters containing their results and read them silently. Sophie's read:

SOPHRONIA SARAH TONKS HAS ACHIEVED:

Arithmancy: E

Astronomy: E

Care of Magical Creatures: E

Charms: O

Defense Against the Dark Arts: O

Herbology: E

History of Magic: A

Potions: O

Transfiguration: E

She had passed everything and had all the necessary grades to continue in required subjects for Healers: Sophie could not have been more satisfied. She knew her parents might wonder at the "A" in History of Magic, but she had been completely unable to concentrate after Harry had collapsed screaming in the middle of the exam, and she didn't need the subject anyway.

Smiling, she looked up expectantly at the other three. It turned out that Harry and Ron had both passed everything except for Divination and History of Magic. Hermione, of course, had gotten an "O" in everything except (Sophie was surprised to see, though she concealed it from the others) Defense Against the Dark Arts. In fact, only she and Harry had gotten "Outstanding" in that subject.

"Well," announced Ron happily. "We're N.E.W.T. students now! Mum, are there any more sausages?"

"Only five classes this year," Sophie grinned back at him. "Should be fun, huh?"

"They're going to be very difficult classes!" warned Hermione. "Studying at the NEWT level is going to be very different from what we're used to, I expect…"

Sophie visited the Burrow once more during that summer: the day before they were to return to Hogwarts. She had not gone to Diagon Alley with the others, but they told her a great deal about their excursion there: particularly about some peculiar behaviour they had witnessed from none other than Draco Malfoy. They had met him with his mother in Madam Malkin's (Sophie was infinitely glad she had missed that episode), then later seen him sneaking off by himself to Borgin and Burke's and had eavesdropped on his conversation with Borgin.

"Keep that one safe?" repeated Sophie. "That what?"

Ron shrugged. "We don't know, we couldn't see."

"It could have been anything, really," said Hermione.

"That sounded to me like Borgin's got another one of the broken objects," put in Harry, "And Malfoy wants both."

"Er…" said Sophie, not really seeing the point. "Why do we care about this again?"

"Don't you think Malfoy'd like revenge?" asked Harry seriously. "I mean, his father's in Azkaban."

Sophie shrugged. "Revenge on…who? The Ministry? Dumbledore? You?"

"I don't know! But he's up to something and I think we should take it seriously. His father's a Death Eater and…"

Harry's eyes widened; he looked quite bizarre, with his mouth agape as he gazed off into space.

"Harry? What's wrong?" asked Hermione.

Sophie lifted her hand and gently snapped her fingers in front of Harry's face. "Harry?" He blinked several times and shook his head a bit.

Ron asked, "Your scar's not hurting again, is it?"

Harry finally spoke, "He's a Death Eater. He's replaced his father as a Death Eater!"

Sophie raised her eyebrows. This had not occurred to her before…

Peals of laughter broke the short silence after Harry's proclamation: Ron said, "Malfoy? He's sixteen, Harry! You think You-Know-Who would let Malfoy join?"

Harry recounted that, apparently, during their encounter with Malfoy, Madam malkin had tried to turn up the left sleeve of his robe and he had yanked his arm out of her reach.

Harry continued on, "He showed Borgin something we couldn't see. Something that seriously scared Borgin. It was the Mark, I know it… he was showing Borgin who he was dealing with, you saw how seriously Borgin took him!"

Hermione and Ron both looked doubtful.

"I'm not sure, Harry…" said Hermione slowly.

"Yeah," agreed Ron. "I still don't reckon You-Know-Who would let Malfoy join…"

Harry turned to Sophie for support, looking questioningly at her.

"Well," she said, carefully. "It's certainly a possibility, isn't it?"

"Malfoy's sixteen!" exclaimed Ron, incredulously.

Sophie shrugged. 'It's happened before."

"What has?"

"A sixteen-year-old joining the Death Eaters," said Sophie. "I think Siri- I mean," she quickly amended, not wanting to steer to far into Sirius territory. "I think Regulus Black was sixteen or something when he joined."

"See?" said Harry, looking triumphantly at the other two

"Really?" asked Hermione skeptically.

"Something like that," said Sophie. "Mum didn't know him any more then, so it's more hearsay."

Hermione shook her head doubtfully. "I just can't picture Malfoy joining."

Harry sighed. "I've got to finish my laundry," he said, taking his robes with him as he left the room.

"Ever or now?" asked Sophie.

Hermione looked up confusedly. "What do you mean?"

"When you said you couldn't picture Malfoy as a Death Eater; did you mean ever, or just right now?"

Hermione thought for a moment before answering, "Just right now, I guess."

"Bet Lucius Malfoy'd love it if old Draco became a Death Eater some day," put in Ron. "Git's probably been groomed for it his whole life."

"Do you really think so, though?" questioned Sophie.

"I'd reckon so," replied Ron. "Why not?"

"Well…" began Sophie. "I was just thinking…remember before the whole Ministry thing in June? Draco was trying so hard to make sure we didn't leave, remember how he was helping hold you guys in Umbridge's office?"

"So?"

"Well, if Lucius had told Draco that Voldemort wanted for Harry to leave Hogwarts and come to the Ministry, I doubt he'd have tried so hard to stop him. I don't think Lucius Malfoy really told Draco any Death Eater stuff. Probably he wanted to keep him out of it as much as he could…" Sophie frowned and pursed her lips.

"What is it?" asked Hermione.

"It's just…everything," Sophie burst out. "Why are all the adults so focused on keeping us out of stuff? 'Oh, the Order is up to something, but under no circumstances can you children know, even though you're an integral part of it. Don't ask us. Don't know the facts. Don't challenge the limits. Don't marry so and so. Don't. Don't. Don't. Don't.' They never listen, they never learn!"

"Don't marry- huh?" asked Hermione.

"Never mind," said Sophie.


	36. Luck, Love, and a Curse

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement._

There was a palpable difference in the atmosphere upon Sophie's return to Hogwarts, at least in her own mind. Students were searched upon entering the school and several had items confiscated. Stern warnings were issued to the student body over the opening feast about the graveness of the situation the wizarding community found itself in. Even the Sorting Hat had tapped into the newfound state of war the wizarding vcommunity had found itself in:

_At the birth of Hogwarts School_

_To teach the students how to duel_

_Was never the sole and only dream_

_Of the Founders, that formidable team._

_Instead they sought to institute _

_A nobler goal, a very root_

_Of magical unity, training_

_In times of war, the world paining._

_Founded in strife, Hogwarts at its base,_

_Can once again its enemies face._

_And now, foes threat'ning ev'ry side,_

_With these early goals we must strive._

_Look to Slytherin, keep your heart's desires_

_His own locket contained the fires_

_Of heart and soul: ambition over chafe._

_Hogwarts' power and secrets, locked and safe._

_See Gryffindor, he wielded his sword_

_To protect, defend, and face a horde_

_Of enemies threatening those here_

_So walk with courage and have no fear._

_Remember Hufflepuff, always merry,_

_Always kind, of friendship never wary,_

_She lifted her cup to any and all,_

_High or low, they were welcomed in this hall._

_Then turn your gaze to Ravenclaw_

_With her diadem of wisdom, no flaw_

_In her strategic reasoning_

_Her mind, her weapon, her very wing._

_From all four Founders, please take note_

_Together learn and build, lest we be smote_

_Both from the inside and from without_

_I caution you, do not take that route._

_Another year thus begun,_

_And my song has now been sung._

_So go together through these wars:_

_It is up to you; it is yours._

"It really knows what's going on, doesn't it?" remarked Ron.

"Course it does," Sophie replied. "It's been sitting in Dumbledore's office for the past year, it's heard all about everything that happened with Voldemor, so I expect it's been preparing its song based off of that."

"_How_," said Hermione, the worry in her voice evident though she spoke in an undertone. "Can the two of you be thinking about the Hat when we don't even know what happened to Harry?"

Sophie grimaced. They had not seen Harry as they left the train and had assumed that he had gone on ahead up to the castle without them. On arriving at the Gryffindor table, however, they realized that Harry was nowhere to be seen. All throughout the Sorting, Sophie, Hermione and Ron were habitually turning their heads to the Great Hall's entrance, to see if Harry would arrive.

Harry did eventually arrive, his face covered in blood, just as dessert was starting. After the feast had ended he explained to Sophie and Ron (Hermione had rounded up the first years as part of her prefect duty) that Malfoy had put a Body-Bind on him and left him under his Cloak on the train, and that Dora had only luckily found him before the train sped back to London. He brushed this aside, however, and was keen to tell them what he had overheard Malfoy saying while in the company of Crabbe and Goyle, Blaise Zabini, and his girlfriend, Pansy Parkinson.

"So…" said Sophie after Harry had finished. "He was saying he might not be at Hogwarts next year because of something he's doing for Voldemort?"

Ron pulled a skeptical expression. "Come on, Harry. He was just showing off for Parkinson. What kind of mission would You Know Who have given him?"

But Sophie shook her head. "He wouldn't make something that big up just to impress her. If he had, eventually she would notice that he wasn't doing anything to do with Voldemort. No, I think Harry's right; it sounds like Malfoy's got more on his mind than showing off for his girlfriend."

To add to the sombre mood, Professor Snape had been given the Defense Against the Dark Arts job. Evidently Harry had been mistaken; Professor Slughorn was to be their Potions teacher. This was good news for both Harry and Ron, as it meant they would be able to continue Potions at the NEWT level (Snape had been unwilling to allow anyone with less than an "O" continue; Slughorn was more lenient.) Professor Slughorn seemed to have already developed a special interest in a few select students, mainly because of family connections. In their NEWT Potions class, out of four Slytherins (Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass), three Ravenclaws (Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein and Kevin Entwhistle), a Hufflepuff (Ernie Macmillan), Sophie, Hermione, Harry and Ron, Slughorn seemed excessively fond of both Harry Potter, the Chosen One and Blaise Zabini, whom Sophie did not know much at all, but had heard tell from Lily that he was the pretentious, metrosexual son of a witch who had been left mounds of gold by a slough of suspiciously dead husbands. Though Slughorn had taught both Sophie's parents Potions during all their years at Hogwarts and been her mother's Head of House, Slughorn paid no particular heed to Sophie, and Sophie, having heard from Harry that Slughorn had come to Hogwarts again to escape any association with Death Eaters, duly understood the reason for this.

Their first NEWT Potions class consisted of Slughorn showing them a multitude of NEWT-level brewed potions, including Veritaserum (truth serum), Polyjuice Potion and Amortentia.

"It's the most powerful love potion in the world!" declared Hermione.

"Quite right! " beamed Slughorm, gazing eagerly at Hermione, her eagerness and ability to answer his questions seemed to have piqued his interest. "You recognized it, I suppose, by its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen?"

Hermione nodded and continued on, describing how the potion would smell differently to different people.

"I can smell freshly mown grass," she said. "And new parchment and -" Hermione blushed and shook her head slightly, evidently unwilling to continue.

Slughorn asked, "May I ask your name, my dear?"

Hermione replied, "Hermione Granger, sir."

"Granger?" repeated Slughorn, his eyes lighting up. "Granger? Can you possibly be related to Hector Dagworth-Granger, who founded the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers?"

"No," replied Hermione. "I don't think so, sir. I'm Muggle-born, you see."

Sophie heard a small snort from her left and looked over to see both Theodore Nott and Malfoy smirking at Hermione's statement. Slughorn, however, gave Gryffindor twenty points. Sophie stuck her tongue out in triumph at Malfoy's stunned face.

Eventually Slughorn came to the point of their lesson: they were each to attempt brewing a Draught of Living Death, and the maker of the best one would receive a small bottle of Felix Felicis, what Hermione called "liquid luck."

Slughorn explained, "A funny little potion, Felix Felicis. Desperately tricky to make, and disastrous to get wrong. However, if brewed correctly, as this has been, you will find that all your endeavors tend to succeed… at least until the effects wear off."

As the class scrambled to get their ingredients prepared to begin brewing their Draughts, Ron and Sophie both had to walk past the Amortentia. "Don't you think that's what was in that room?" asked Sophie.

"What room?" asked Ron, looking confused.

"The one with the locked door at the Ministry," Sophie explained. "The one we couldn't open. It must have been a Love Room."

"Oh," said Ron, surprised. "I guess."

Sophie leaned over the cauldron and inhaled. It was the most beautiful scent she had ever smelled, which was a bit peculiar, considering its derivatives: home-brewed tea, the medicinal smell of her father's Healer robes and some earthy, herb-like scent that she could not quite place.

Ron leaned over as well and sniffed. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then quickly closed it again, shook his head and continued gathering his ingredients.

Much to Sophie's surprise, it was Harry who won the Felix Felicis with his Draught of Living Death. Sophie raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing about it until after class.

"I followed different instructions," he explained to them afterwards. "Someone had written in my textbook before me and made adjustments to the instructions; I just followed those and they worked."

"Nice book," remarked Sophie. Hermione did not take this view, saying that Harry had not used his own work.

"Of course it was his own work Hermione," countered Sophie. "It's not as if this bloke leapt out of the book and brewed Harry's potion for him!"

Ginny had just been walking by and suddenly stopped short. "Hang on. Did I hear right? You've been taking orders from something someone wrote in a book, Harry?"

Harry reassured her that this was nothing like Riddle's diary, but Hermione interjected,

"Ginny's got a point. We ought to check that there's nothing odd about it. I mean, all these funny instructions, who knows?" Hermione tried using a spell to reveal any hidden enchantment in the book, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary about it.

Hermione still seemed dissatisfied. "Let it go," Hermione. Her friend turned to her, frowning. "Don't you think the whole thing's rather odd, though?...Sophie?"

Sophie barely acknowledged her; she had just spotted Neville coming through the portrait hole and went over to greet him.

"Hi Neville!" she said. "Did you just have class?"

"Hello Sophie," Neville smiled back at her. "No, I was just out in the greenhouses with Professor Sprout; she's got some new dittany plants from Greece and I was just helping her with them."

"That's great," said Sophie. "My Mum always keeps some dittany around our house, just in case somebody hurts themselves, then she applies the essence-"

"And it heals the wound, preventing scarring," nodded Neville enthusiastically.

"I didn't know it was from Greece," said Sophie as the two of them sat down in armchairs side by side.

"Oh yeah," Neville replied. He opened his bag and fished out an old book. "See here," he said, flipping it open to a page. "It grows in Greece, in Crete, on these mountainsides." He looked up at her.

"Cool," said Sophie, looking back at him. She couldn't help noticing how close their faces were to each other's, perched over the Herbology book. Neville's plump, round face shining with enthusiasm, his lucid blue eyes lit up and staring back into hers.

"Sophie!"

Sophie glanced up and saw Ron standing there. "What?" she asked him.

"I said, 'can I borrow your Potions notes?' Hermione won't let me borrow hers, and I didn't have a clue-"

"Yeah, yeah," said Sophie, magicking them out of her bag and handing them to Ron. "Go crazy."

"Thanks," said Ron, and disappeared with the parchment.

"So you're continuing with Potions?" asked Neville. "Is Slughorn a good teacher?"

Sophie gave a half shrug. "He's not bad. Hell of a lot better than Snape."

Neville gave a nervous laugh. "I guess he would be. I didn't understand the non-verbal spells Snape was talking about at all."

"Do you want to practice them with me?" asked Sophie. "We could, when we've both got a free period…only if you want to, of course…"

"Really?" said Neville. He gave her a smile as a look of relief poured into his eyes. "That would be so great, Sophie."

Harry continued his use of the Potions textbook, much to Hermione's chagrin. He showed Sophie that in the front of the book, the previous owner had referred to himself as the "Half-Blood Prince." Evidently this "Prince" was the best Potions teacher Harry had ever had, as he continually came out top of their NEWT Potions class.

The first Hogsmeade weekend of the year was in mid-October. Sophie was eating porridge with Hermione in the Great Hall that morning. Hermione was studying out of her Arithmancy book and Sophie was twirling her spoon, considering the possibility of meeting up with Neville in Hogsmeade, when Harry and Ron joined them.

"Guess what happened this morning?" asked Ron as he sat down beside Sophie, Harry on the other side. "I was just sleeping in bed, like normal, you know? And then, out of nowhere, there's this big flash of light and I'm hanging by my ankle up in the air!" Ron let out a burst of laughter. "It was a spell that Harry used on me. So, then I yelled because I was just hanging in mid-air, and I was thinking, 'what the hell is going on?' and then, after a few seconds, there was another flash, of light and I landed on the bed again!"

"How invigorating," said Sophie, mildly.

Hermione asked Harry is this spell was from the Half-Blood Prince.

"Well…" said Harry, a bit hesitantly, "Yeah, it was, but so what?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "So you just decided to try out an unknown, handwritten incantation and see what would happen?"

Harry shrugged. "Why does it matter if it's handwritten?" His avoidance of the rest of Hermione's question did not escape Sophie's notice.

"Because it's probably not Ministry of Magic approved. And also because I'm starting to think this Prince character was a bit dodgy."

"Just because someone's really good at Potions, Hermione," said Sophie (she refrained from saying, 'better than you'), "Doesn't make them a dodgy person."

"It's not that," insisted Hermione. "It's the sort of person who puts their time and energy into making up spells that dangle people upside down."

Sophie did not see what was so suspicious about this, until Hermione reminded them that they had seen Death Eaters at the World Cup performing a similar levitation. Ron brushed this aside, saying that the Death Eaters had been abusing the spell, and Harry pointed out that had the Prince been an up and coming Death Eater, he likely wouldn't have called himself "half-blood."

"The Death Eaters can't all be pure-blood," countered Hermione. "There aren't enough pure-blood wizards left. I expect most of them are half-bloods pretending to be pure. It's only Muggle-borns they hate, they'd be quite happy to let the three of you join up."

Ron shook his head vigorously. "There is no way they'd let me be a Death Eater! My whole family are blood traitors! That's as bad as Muggle-borns to Death Eaters!"

Harry added, "And they'd love to have me. We'd be best pals if they didn't keep trying to do me in."

Sophie half-smiled, half-grimaced. Unable to give a reason for her own disqualification from Death Eater membership, she said, "_Anyways_, Hermione, Harry's right; even if a Death Eater was half-blood, he wouldn't be _parading_ the fact that he was."

"Is it parading something to write it in a textbook?" asked Hermione shrewdly. Sophie shrugged.

"So he was dangling people upside down. Maybe he wanted to give his friends a laugh."

"Hey, Harry." It was Ginny with a message for Harry about his next lesson with Dumbledore. Harry had already had one lesson with Dumbledore, and he had described to Sophie, Hermione and Ron that Dumbledore gad taken him into the Pensieve and shown him a memory of Voldemort's mother, uncle and grandfather, the Gaunts. They had been an old, poor pure-blood family with nothing to show for their carefully preserved line save for pride and insanity.

It was extremely cold in Hogsmeade that day. Sophie walked with Hermione, Harry and Ron to Honeydukes. Sophie peered over the heads of the surrounding students in an attempt to spot Neville; instead she spotted Professor Slughorn.

"Harry, m'boy! Harry, that's three of my little suppers you've missed now!" said Slughorn, poking him genially in the chest. It won't do, m'boy, I'm determined to have you! Miss Granger loves them, don't you?" Slughorn had been giving small parties in his office for select students. "So why don't you come along, Harry…Ah, well… you can't evade me forever, Harry!" Slughorn departed, and Sophie was distinctly aware of the fact that Slughorn had just as though she and Ron had been part of the wall.

Eventually the four of them went up to the Three Broomsticks, where Sophie had quite the surprise. They ran into Mundungus there who, Harry discoevered, had stolen items from Sirius' house and was now selling them.

"What did you do," asked Harry, his teeth practically grinding together. "Go back the night he died and strip the place? Give it to me!" Mundungus Disapparated.

Harry, still enraged, continued to yell, "COME BACK, YOU THIEVING —!"

"There's no point, Harry," said a voice Sophie would have recognized anywhere. She turned in surprise to see Dora standing there. "Mundungus will probably be in London by now. There's no point yelling." Dora suggested they should get inside, out of the frigid air.

"What're you doing here?" asked Sophie. She noticed that her sister still appeared downcast, her hair and face unchanged, and she took this to mean Remus had not revoked his stance on their relationship.

"Security," replied Dora dully. "Get inside, Sophie, it's cold out here." Dora was clearly not in a chatting mood. Sophie shook her head and followed her friends inside. Normally her sister was one of the most talkative people she knew. She hoped this Remus business would be smoothed over soon.

Their time in the Three Broomsticks incurred a record boredom level. Sophie could not see any trace of Neville inside the pub, and none of the other three seemed to have much to say. Hermione and Ron were avoiding each other's gaze, and Harry was staring spacily out the window, before suggesting they head back to Hogwarts.

While on their way back to the castle, Katie Bell and a friends of hers walking ahead of them seemed to be having an argument. Sophie paid little attention to them until, bizarrely, Katie started to rise up into the air, and then began to scream horribly. They all rushed forwards to help her, and managed to pull her from the air, but she was still shrieking, and now rolling around on the snow-laden ground. Sophie was quite at a loss: she had never seen anything like this before.

Harry ran for help and returned with Hagrid, who wasted little time in picking Katie up and carrying her away to the school.

Hermione got the story from Katie's friend that they had been arguing about a necklace that Katie had somehow acquired while going to the bathroom in the Three Broomsticks. She had insisted that she needed to give it to someone.

"Oh no, oh no!" cried her friend. "I bet she'd been Imperiused and I didn't realize!"

The five of them began going back up to the school. Harry explained that he had seen that necklace on display in Borgin and Burke's.

"Malfoy knows about this necklace," said Harry to Sophie and Ron while Hermione walked ahead with Leanne. "It was in a case at Borgin and Burkes four years ago, I saw him having a good look at it while I was hiding from him and his dad. This is what he was buying that day when we followed him! He remembered it and he went back for it!"

Harry said as much to Professor McGonagall when she confronted them to ask what had happened when the necklace cursed Katie, though she was loath to believe him.

"You saw Malfoy leaving the shop with a similar package?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"No, Professor," explained Harry. "He told Borgin to keep it in the shop for him —"

Hermione, however, shot this down and began arguing with Harry.

"That's enough!" exclaimed Professor McGonagall. "Potter, I appreciate you telling me this, but we cannot point the finger of blame at Mr. Malfoy purely because he visited the shop where this necklace might have been purchased. The same is probably true of hundreds of people, and in any case, we have put stringent security measures in place this year. I do not believe that necklace can possibly have entered this school without our knowledge, and what is more, Mr. Malfoy was not in Hogsmeade today." She went on to say that Malfoy had been doing detention with her.

On returning to the common room, Harry was still unwilling to abandon his pet theory of Malfoy-attacked-Katie/Malfoy-is-a-Death-Eater and was now insisting that Malfoy must have used an accomplice. Hermione and Ron exchanged exasperated looks, but Sophie said,

"Look, Harry's got a point: we know Malfoy's up to something, we know he may be a Death Eater himself-"

"Now we don't!" cried Hermione.

"We know he has a connection to the necklace," Sophie continued, unfazed. "And the whole attack had his name written all over it. It's definitely a possibility we can't rule out."

"What d'you mean, 'his name's written all over it?' " asked Hermione.

Sophie shrugged. "The attack was clumsy," she said simply. "Would you have expected something different from him? Even if he does have-" Sophie pointed to her left forearm. "A skilled Dark wizard would have been more slick. This attack indicates the person is inexperienced. Hence, Draco Malfoy."


	37. Friends and Enemies

_I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's wonderful characters, plots, places, concepts, etc. It should be noted that some of the dialogue in this story has been taken directly from the Harry Potter books and I do not claim to have written those bits myself. Basically anything you recognize from the books is not mine. I am not making any profit, nor do I intend any copyright infringement._

Slughorn continued giving dinners in his office to his preferred students throughout the year. Harry managed to avoid most of them because of Quidditch practice, but Hermione had to go to nearly every single one. Slughorn still maintained his blindness to any student not in the elite inner circle (among whom Sophie, Ron and Malfoy could not count themselves). However, during the Christmas season, Hermione informed them, during an Herbology lesson, that Slughorn was to be holding a Christmas party and was now finding out when Harry was free, so he would not be able to escape going. Harry did not look happy about this. Ron sneered at it as well, though his reaction had more to do with the name of this group of students that Hermione had just dropped, "_Slug Club._"

"'Slug Club. It's pathetic. Well, I hope you enjoy your party. Why don't you try getting off with McLaggen, then Slughorn can make you King and Queen Slug —"

Hermione interrupted him angrily. "We're allowed to bring guests, and I was going to ask you to come, but if you think it's that stupid then I won't bother!"

Sophie and Harry caught each other's eyes, and then began to vigorously help each other with the plant they were handling for class. It was extremely awkward for them to be there while their two best friends had this encounter. Sophie shook her head distractedly as she helped Harry with the pod. She had known that Hermione liked Ron for two years, and Ron had seemed upset when Hermione had been with Viktor. Nevertheless, she could not picture Ron making a move with Hermione and so had been left to wonder if Hermione would ever confront Ron with her feelings, or else lose interest in him. She had avoided the subject in conversation with Hermione for the past two years because she could tell her best friend was hurt by Ron's lack of initiative, or even apparent interest.

As they left Herbology, Sophie and Harry fell back behind their classmates to talk.

"So," said Harry. "Did you-"

"See that coming?" asked Sophie. "Yeah, I think so. You?"

Harry nodded. "It's just…awkward. More awkward than Cho and I were."

"I think that's because we've all been friends for so long," said Sophie. "We've been such a perfect foursome, and this could really screw it all up. If they break up-"

"Or start hanging all over each other," added Harry.

Sophie nodded. "That would be bad too, particularly since neither you nor I-" Neville walked by, engaged in conversation with Hannah Abbot. "Can get the people we like. I've seen you looking at Ginny, Harry," Sophie added. "I know."

Harry followed her gaze to the back of Neville's head. "You mean-?"

"Yeah," said Sophie. She sighed as they hurried up the stone steps to the castle.

The Gryffindor Quidditch team won their next match and the inevitable party that ensued in the Gryffindor common room was loud and raucous: Sophie could hear it as she approached the portrait hole. However, before she opened her mouth to give the password, the portrait swung open and Hermione burst out into the corridor. Her face looked sort of crumpled.

"Hermione-?" Sophie began, but Hermione rushed past her and down the corridor.

Perplexed, Sophie turned and followed Hermione into an unused classroom.

"Did you see him?" asked Hermione, her back towards Sophie.

"Who?" asked Sophie, bewildered.

Hermione sniffed. "Ron," she whispered. "With Lavender."

"With-?"

"They're _snogging_," Hermione burst out. "In front of _everyone_!"

Sophie's eyes widened. She had been unsure of where Ron stood exactly with regards to his feelings for Hermione, but she had never expected something like this. Was this Ron's insensitive way of telling Hermione he wasn't at all interested in her?

"I'm sorry, Hermione," said Sophie quietly.

Hermione gave a shuddering sigh. "Me too."

Sophie returned to the common room later, only to find Ron with his mouth still locked to Lavender's. Not wanting to stick around and watch this, she tapped Neville on the shoulder. "Do you have time to practice now?" she asked him. She had already had several sessions with Neville in which they found an unused classroom and rehearsed non-verbal spells.

"Sure," said Neville., and the two of them left the common room together to find practice space (Sophie made sure to avoid Hermione's classroom). Today Sophie was focusing on helping Neville learn to perform the non-verbal Stunning Spell. They had cushions for the person being Stunned, but so far Neville had been unsuccessful, though he was certainly applying himself very hard.

"You've got to _feel_ that you're actually saying the word," Sophie told him. "Like you're shouting it inside your head. You're really really close, you've just got to imagine you can hear yourself actually saying the spell aloud."

"OK," said Neville, his face flushed and sweating from concerted effort. He raised his wand and swished it down hard. Sophie saw the room tilt and then everything went dark.

"Sophie? Are you OK?"

Sophie opened her eyes. She was lying on the floor, Neville and Terry Boot were over her, both looking very concerned. It was Terry who had spoken.

"Yeah," said Sophie, sitting up slowly.

"I'm so sorry, Sophie," said Neville remorsefully.

Sophie grinned at him. "Don't be! That was great! And I'm fine, see?" She got to her feet. "But that's really sweet of you, Neville."

Neville gave her a small smile in return.

"Um," said Terry. "So…Sophie, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go into Hogsmeade with me, next time there's a weekend there?"

"Oh," said Sophie. "You mean, like as a date?"

"Yeah," said Terry. He looked a bit embarrassed to be conducting this conversation in Neville's presence.

"I'm sorry, Terry," Sophie replied. "It's nothing personal, but I don't think that would work out."

"Oh," said Terry, blushing. "OK…well I just thought I'd…well, uh, see you around, Sophie." He scarpered away.

"Bye," said Sophie. "Did he just happen to be walking by, or-?"

Neville nodded. "He was walking by the classroom and heard you hit the floor…Um…are you, er, seeing someone? Is that why you can't go to Hogsmeade with him?"

"Oh, no," Sophie swiftly replied. "No, I'm not seeing anyone."

"Oh."

There was a brief pause.

"So…d'you want to try again?" asked Sophie.

One day after Potions, Christmas break drawing nearer, Sophie looked up from clearing her equipment and ingredients away and was very startled to find herself gazing right into Blaise Zabini's face.

"Hello," she said, raising an eyebrow.

"Hi," said Zabini. "Have you heard of this party Slughorn's giving before Christmas?"

"Of course," said Sophie. "Who hasn't?"

"Will you come with me?"

"With you?" Sophie repeated, surprised. "Um, no, sorry, I don't think that would work out."

Zabini frowned. "Are you already going with someone else?"

"No," said Sophie.

"But I thought you broke it off with Greengrass," Zabini pressed on.

"I did. We have," Sophie assured him.

"Then you can come-"

"No, I can't," Sophie interrupted him. "Sorry. I'm sure you won't have trouble finding someone else, though, Blaise."

He scowled at her. "Of course I won't," he said rather aggressively before turning on his heel and stalking away.

"Will you go to Slughorn's party with me, Sophie?"

Harry asked Sophie this question during one of their Transfiguration lessons, quite startling Sophie.

"Just as, you know, friends," Harry hastily amended. "Since Ginny's obviously with Dean, and I didn't ask Hermione since everything's already so complicatd with her and Ron and Lavender…"

"Harry Potter," said Sophie teasingly. "Are you telling me you only asked me because I was the last option?"

Harry gave a sheepish smile. "Well, it's also Romilda Vane and her friends…they're all trying to slip me love potions…all sort of hazardous to my health, really."

Sophie grinned. "Well," she said, with a mock sigh. "I guess I will…as a friend I suppose I have a duty to protect you from the likes of Romilda Vane…though, come to think of it, I might be putting my own life at stake once she realizes I'm going with you."

"Thanks Sophie," said Harry. "And don't worry, I'll make sure everyone knows we're just going as friends."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure that will convince her," replied Sophie.

Sophie casually informed Hermione that she was going to the party with Hermione, to which Hermione merely nodded.

"Are you, er, going by yourself?" asked Sophie, trying to be tactful.

"No," said Hermione with a grimace. "I'm taking Cormac McLaggen."

Sophie raised a skeptical eyebrow at her best friend. She recalled that McLaggen was an incredibly arrogant seventh year who thought he was a Quidditch mastermind. He had also been narrowly beaten out by Ron to be Gryffindor Keeper.

"Low," said Sophie.

"Do you have a better suggestion/" shot back Hermione.

"Go _talk_ to Ron," answered Sophie.

"Can't, can I?" said Hermione, turning away. "His mouth's always too busy with _hers_."

"Just make sure you _don't_ snog Mclaggen," said Sophie.

Hermione made a face. "Don't worry."

When Sophie put on her crimson dress robes and descended the girls' dormitory stairs to the common room to meet up with Harry, she found herself being glared viciously at by a multitude of younger girls. She rolled her eyes at them.

"You look nice," said Harry.

"Don't make them hate me any more," Sophie replied. Harry grinned ruefully back at her.

She and Harry (looking fairly handsome himself, Sophie thought) climbed out of the portrait hold together and set off for Slughorn's study.

Once they had arrived, Slughorn (taking absolutely no notice of Sophie) began introducing Harry to many well-connected, prominent people. Sophie did not find this much interesting (she knew Harry didn't either, but had to be polite, and he was keeping a firm grip on her hand –probably, Sophie reasoned, so that he didn't have to deal with all the attention alone), so she spent more time lancing around the room, trying to spot Hermione. She accidentally caught the gaze of Blaise Zabini, who was there with Daphne Greengrass and gave her a cold stare.

She and Harry managed to momentarily escape Slughorn and his guests and had a rendezvous with Hermione, who was similarily trying to avoid McLaggen. Sophie agreed with Harry's statement that it "served her right for coming with him." Sophie still thought it was a remarkably stupid and low idea to have come from Hermione, of all people. Hermione couldn't talk to them for very long before running off to escape from McLaggen again. Hermione had barely left them when Slughorn tracked Harry down again, still waxing eloquent about him.

"I don't think I've ever known such a natural at Potions! Instinctive, you know — like his mother! I've only ever taught a few with this kind of ability…why even Severus —" Sophie winced as Slughorn reeled a passing Snape into the conversation. She hadn't noticed him before. Who'd have thought Snape was the type to attend Christmas parties?

"Stop skulking and come and join us, Severus! I was just talking about Harry's exceptional potion-making! Some credit must go to you, of course, you taught him for five years!"

"Funny," said Snape. "I never had the impression that I managed to teach Potter anything at all."

This did not faze Slughorn, who continued on at length about Harry's potionmaking brilliance. Sophie was becoming thoroughly bored, when all of a sudden, a rather intriguing sight met her eyes: Filch dragging Malfoy by the ear to Slughorn, asking whether Malfoy was supposed to be at the party or not.

Malfoy wrenched himself out of Filch's group appearing angry, but also, Sophie noted, tired and a bit sick-looking. Though he clearly had not been invited to the party, Slughorn gave him permission to stay, but then Snape spoke up.

"I'd like a word with you, Draco." Malfoy's mouth curled unhappily, but he followed Snape out of the room. Sophie turned to Harry.

"What d'you think-"

"Let's go," said Harry.

"Go- where?" asked Sophie, confused.

"After Snape and Malfoy!" hissed Harry in an undertone. "Come on!"

"But-" Sophie began, but Harry had already started darting after the two of them. Sophie resigned to go with him, weaving between guests to leave the office.

Once outside, Harry pulled his Cloak out and draped it over himself and Sophie.

"We've just got to find them," said Harry, beginning to walk along, pressing his ear to doors as they went.

"No, we haven't _got to_," Sophie shot back. "Harry, we can't just-"

"Shhh!" he hushed her as he attempted to listen for their quarry's voices.

They soon found Malfoy and Snape –or, at least, they could hear them speaking behind the door of a classroom.

"Harry," breathed Sophie firmly. "We _cannot_ just go round eavesdropping. It's none of our business what Snape-"

Harry put his index finger to his lips and pressed his ear closer to the door. Sophie gave him an exasperated look.

Malfoy's voice sounded though the door, "Who suspects me? For the last time, I didn't do it, OK? That Bell girl must've had an enemy no one knows about — don't look at me like that! I know what you're doing, I'm not stupid, but it won't work — I can stop you!"

Sophie found herself sidling her ear closer to the door in spite of herself.

"Ah…" came Snape's voice, very quietly (Sophie pressed her ear closer, as Harry did the same), "Aunt Bellatrix has been teaching you Occlumency, I see. What thoughts are you trying to conceal from your master, Draco?"

"I'm not trying to conceal anything from _him_," Malfoy snapped. "I just don't want _you_ butting in!"

Harry glanced at Sophie, his eyebrows raised. Snape went on about how Malfoy had been avoiding him, Malfoy shrugging this off.

"Listen to me. I am trying to help you," breathed Snape. "I swore to your mother I would protect you. I made the Unbreakable Vow, Draco —"

Now it was Sophie's turn to shoot her eyebrows into her hairline.

"Looks like you'll have to break it, then," Malfoy shot back. "Because I don't need your protection! It's my job, he gave it to me and I'm doing it, I've got a plan and it's going to work, it's just taking a bit longer than I thought it would!"

Snape continued to question Malfoy about his plan, but Malfoy would yield no further information, finally bursting out,

"I know what you're up to! You want to steal my glory!"

"You are speaking like a child," replied Snape. "I quite understand that your fathers capture and imprisonment has upset you-"

Sophie heard the approaching footsteps before Harry did and seized his arm, and yanking him away from the door, quick as a flash before Malfoy opened it and stalked away.

Sophie couldn't remember having a "normal" Christmas since her first Christmas break from Hogwarts. Last year's had come close, but between Mr. Weasley being whisked away to St. Mungo's, Harry thinking himself possessed and seeing the Longbottoms, the Christmas spirit had been marred somewhat.

This year there was nothing so blatantly dark and gloomy lurking about and Mr. and Mrs. Tonks were both obviously glad that they had both their daughters home for the holidays for once. However, Sophie found it difficult to enjoy much seasonal cheer. Dora was still greatly unhappy, her hair still a dull, limp brown. Sophie thought her skin looked almost grey and asked her if she was ill. Dora sighed and shook her head, but Sophie understood this to be true on a merely physical level.

Sophie could see that her sister's despondency greatly concerned her parents and she noticed them giving each other dark, significant glances whenever Dora was in the room.

Because of the trouble with Dora, Sophie found her thoughts drifting more and more often to what she and Harry had heard between Draco and Snape. Normally she would have shared it with Dora, but, well- she didn't want to trouble her more. And she definitely didn't want to needlessly bring up anything to do with the Malfoys to her parents.

Sophie was now completely convinced that Malfoy was doing something to do with Voldemort if not imbued with the Dark Mark itself. Sophie did not exactly feel sorry for Malfoy, but seeing him so ill-looking and now thinking of him trying to carry out a mission from Voldemort while his father was imprisoned, _almost_ made her feel sorry for her cousin.

But _why_ would Voldemort need Malfoy to do something for him? He already (thought) he had Snape at Hogwarts, and Snape clearly was not involved in whatever Malfoy was up to. And why would Narcissa Malfoy have made an Unbreakable Vow with Snape? Did she simply want protection from a Death Eater for her son now that Lucius was in prison? That, Sophie supposed, depended upon how long ago and under what circumstances the Vow was made.

Christmas dinner was a rather awkward, morose affair in the Tonks household. Neither Dora nor Sophie was in the mood for much conversation, though Mr. and Mrs. Tonks kept trying to force it.

"So how have you been finding studying at the NEWT level, Sophie?" asked Mr. Tonks.

Sophie shrugged one shoulder. "OK."

"Not very difficult?"

"Not very."

There was a pause.

"I suppose you've been working overtime a lot lately, Nymphadora?" said their mother. "You look a bit overworked."

Sophie glanced witheringly at her mother. Did she really have to pretend?

"Just a bit," said Dora indifferently, whilst pushing her mashed potatoes around idly on her plate. "I'm mostly put on Hogwarts duty."

"Certainly better than having to patrol Azkaban," remarked Mr. Tonks. "I've already heard of several Aurors being admitted to St. Mungo's in order to recover from their hours on duty there."

"How dreadful," said Mrs. Tonks.

Silence.

"Well," said an unsmiling Dora at length, standing and removing her plate. "I think I'm finished here." She left.

Mrs. Tonks' sigh was reminiscient of her elder daughter's. "She doesn't seem to want to stop think about that man."

"Remus," said Sophie. "His name's Remus Lupin."

"The werewolf," said Mr. Tonks.

"He's not '_the werewolf,' "_ bristled Sophie. "He's in the Order, he was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we had, and he was best friends with Sirius and Harry's dad…"

"Yes, Soph," said Mr. Tonks, cutting her off. "Just making sure we're talking about the same person."

Sophie scowled down at her plate. "I'm sure Remus Lupin is a very good man," said Mrs. Tonks went on. "But he is much older than Nymphadora-"

"Not _that_ much," Sophie interrupted. "He just looks like it because he's under so much stress-"

"And however good a person he is, he's always going to become a dangerous animal once a month," continued Mrs. Tonks as though she had not heard Sophie speak.

"There's a potion for that!" cried Sophie.

"It's still very risky," put in Mr. Tonks. "Seen it fairly often at work: a werewolf forgets his potion, the full moon comes, bites and near-misses-"

"Shut up!" shouted Sophie, suddenly finding herself on her feet. "Just- both of you, shut up! It's all the same, prejudice against werewolves, just like people are towards Muggle-borns! You're doing the exact same thing-"

"That is _enough_, Sophronia Sarah Tonks," said Mr. Tonks. "You know you are not to speak that way, now go to your room."

"I'm not a kid!" exclaimed Sophie. "I'll be of age in a month, you can't-"

"Sophie," said Mr. Tonks, his tone low and deadly serious. "Go. _Now_."

Sophie looked back for a moment into her father's uncharacteristically stern face, then down at her mother who had buried her face in her hands, her elbows resting on the table. Sophie turned and ran up the stairs and into her room.


End file.
